Nancy's Mysterious Letter
by Third Person Point of View
Summary: I'm back! Updated version of original. Kind of a sequel to The Clue in the Diary. NDxNN, BMxDE, GFxBE pairing. Rated M for a reason: mainly language, but other stuff too. Please read and review!
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Nancy Drew.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm back! Please read and review. I hope you enjoy it as much as the first.

Chapter 01

"So, why are we standing in the middle of the Emerson football field again?" George Fayne asked, looking at her best friend.

George was gazing almost disdainfully out at the luscious green field that lay before her. She had dark hair, cropped into a short pixie cut; spiky locks of straight hair fell over her forehead. She had pretty brown eyes and was on the short side, compact and athletic. George was a tomboy, the only girl who could possibly fit the bill to carry the name George. She was sarcastic and quick-wit, but had a good hear and head on her shoulders. George loved getting into anything that resembled trouble.

"Who cares _why_?" her boy-crazy cousin Bess Marvin retorted, googly-eyed. "Why don't we do this more often?"

Bess was tall and leggy. She had extremely long, extremely shiny, extremely well-maintained blond hair. She wasn't thin, but she wasn't chubby either. She, unlike her active cousin, was curvier. She had big, sparkling blue eyes that were, at the moment, were taking in the delicious landscape of rugged, sweating, running college boys. Bess was more timid than George and indefinitely more feminine. Bess was a fan of shopping sprees and ice cream dates, not soccer and mountain climbing challenges.

There was a pause, then George turned to look the field again. "So, why are we standing in the middle of the Emerson football field again?"

The last girl shook her head, her shoulder length strawberry-blond hair shimmying across her shoulders. Nancy Drew was the medium between the two extreme cousins in more ways than one. She was the mediator in all their fights, and there were a lot of those. She was medium height, with pretty blue eyes that told of her love for adventure, and was on the thin side, though not as toned as George was. Nancy was an adventure junky. She now smiled enchantingly.

"Because I figured, since we're coming here next semester, we could get acquainted with the campus," Nancy replied.

"Could we get acquainted with some of the campus life?" Bess suggested eagerly.

"And we're on the football field because…?" George asked, bringing the point back into focus.

"We're on the football field because that is where Ned said he was going to meet us," Nancy answered.

"Cool," George responded. "So where is Ned?"

Nancy sighed and looked around. "I'm not exactly sure."

Bess was fixated on something in the distance. "Not to snub your guy or anything, but if that… _God_… wants to come and talk to us instead of Ned, that'd be just fine with me."

Nancy looked around to find what, or who, it was that Bess was talking about. Her eyes landed on the boy in question and a small smile tugged at her lips. The boy was definitely walking towards them, head down watching his cleats as he walked.

Nancy's grin broadened as Bess added, "God, Nancy, why don't you know boys like that?"

"Hi Dave!" Nancy called, waving.

The boy in the dirty, worn football jersey lifted his head to look at her and sent her a mind-blowing, charmingly crooked smile. Dave Evans had a shock of thick, black hair that stuck out from behind his ears in tufts. He had beautiful green eyes and a face that was almost too pretty to be a boy. He was extremely tall, rangy and lean. He waved back at Nancy and closed the gap between himself and the girls.

"Hey there, girly," he said and held out his arms to her. He grinned. "Want a hug?"

Nancy pulled back from the sweaty boy and laughed. "No thanks. What are you up to?"

He looked back over his shoulder. "Just finished training for the game on Friday. Ned asked me to come over and entertain for a while. You're coming to the game, right?"

"Of course," Nancy responded, pretending to be appalled that he would ask at all. She turned to her friends. "Dave, these are my friends, the ones that Ned always talks about. This is George Fayne."

"Hey," George said, shaking his hand and he smiled.

"And this is Bess," Nancy said, turning to the other cousin.

Bess was still staring at Dave, mouth slightly agape. Nancy elbowed her in the ribs and the girl snapped out of it, giving a somewhat embarrassed smile.

"Sorry," she said and shook his hand.

Dave looked her over for a moment, a flirtatious smile playing over his mouth. "No problem. Nice to meet you."

Nancy cocked an amused eyebrow. "Well, I'm going to watch Ned for a while. I'll be back in a second."

"Uh huh," Dave and Bess said at the same time, not paying attention.

"Yeah. Great. That's fine," George called after her friend. "Juts leave me here! Bitch."

"So, you girls are from River Heights, too?" Dave was asking.

Bess gave a little giggle. "Yeah. We grew up with Nancy. Did you live in Emerson?"

"No, actually. My family lives in West Ridge, up north. I came to study."

"That's cool. I'm actually coming here next semester."

"Really? That's great! I'll be able to see you more often."

"Yeah, me too," George said in a patronizing tone. "You'll be seeing me too. And Nancy."

Dave looked over at her for the first time since being introduced. He smiled kindly. "Great. That's awesome." When he spoke again, he looked at Bess again. "You guys will really like it here. It's a great school and a lot of fun."

"Nancy should've brought us sooner," Bess commented. "I never knew it had gorgeous… campuses."

Dave grinned a little wider.

George rolled her eyes and turned to a light post to her left. "Such gorgeous campuses," she mocked. "Mi, mi, mi, moo, moo, gooey mushy gaa gaa town."

Dave turned to look at the girl politely. "I'm sorry, did you say something."

George turned back to him quickly, floundering. She smiled and reached out to touch the light post. "No, nothing. Just… admiring the post. It's so… white."

Dave nodded as if he believed her story, but he still looked a little confused. "Yeah. We just repainted them for the game."

"Wow, must have been pretty hard work," Bess said, overly interested.

Dave shrugged. "It was worth it. Speaking of the game, are you girls coming with Nancy."

Bess gave a coy smile. "Nancy had offered to bring us along, but I wasn't really sure if I should."

"Oh, you should," Dave said enthusiastically. "You really should you know."

"Really? Why is that?"

"Well, because. It'll be great. The games are super fun and afterwards there is the, hopefully, Victory Dance."

"A dance, huh? I would, but… that'd be pretty embarrassing to go to a dance without a date."

"Well, I think I could take care of that," Dave offered with a smile. "If you wouldn't mind coming with me."

Bess smiled widely. "That might work. Maybe."

George gagged, Dave opened his mouth to say something, and just at that moment, Nancy came back to the group with Ned.

Ned Nickerson was an extremely good-looking guy. He was tall, not as tall as Dave, but tall nonetheless. He was thin, but muscular with a nice build. Ned had a great smile and deep, beautiful brown eyes. He had gorgeous, thick brown hair that hung sexily over his forehead and was, at the moment, slightly damp with sweat from his workout.

"Oh God, Ned," George gasped, falling over him happily. "You and Nancy are here."

Ned smiled, confused, returning the hug bemusedly. He looked down at the girl. "Okay… you sick, George?"

"Not anymore," she said darkly.

It clicked and Ned laughed, looking over at Dave and Bess. They hadn't noticed. He said hello to Bess.

"Well, come on, slacker," Dave jested. "Weren't you going to give them the tour?"

"Eat me, jackass," Ned said. "Come on, you guys want to walk around and see the campus?"

"That is why we came, Ned," George snorted, smiling at him playfully.

"Not with that attitude," Ned mumbled.

"Come on," Nancy begged, slipping her hand into his. "Please?"

He thought for a minute, Nancy pouting up at him as he tapped his chin attentively. Then he smiled. "Okay. Let's go."

Ned and Dave led them on an entertaining tour of the Emerson campus. Dave and Ned were hilarious. They proudly showed off their fraternity house. The girls turned up the level of their interest. They moved on towards the girl's dorms. Ned stopped at a large building and knocked on the door. A large, pretty sign over the door read "Omega Chi Epsilon House."

"This is the sorority house you'll be staying at when you come up for the game," Ned explained.

Just then the door opened and a short, squat woman looked out at them. She saw the two boys and grinned widely. "Ned and Dave. Where's the third stooge?"

"Cleaning out the locker room," Dave laughed. "It was his turn this week."

The dorm keeper laughed. "What can I do for you boys?"

Ned smiled. "Carmen, remember how I asked if I could have a couple of guest stay with you guys for a few nights? Well, this is Nancy, Bess, and George."

"Oh, yes, of course! Would you like a tour?" she asked, then, not waiting for an answer, pulled them inside.

Carmen showed the girls the spare rooms, introduced some of the girls, who were very nice, and gave them a list of rules. One of the sorority sisters let them know that Carmen was only at the dorm about once a week and didn't check in that often. George grinned mischievously.

"So," Ned asked when the tour of Emerson was over. "What do you think of your future life?"

The girls all smiled. "Pretty good."

"I like it a lot," Bess said.

"Anyway, we have to get going," Nancy said, pulling her collar up against a suddenly cold burst of wind that whipped out at them. "See you on Friday."

"All right," Ned responded, a little disappointed. "I have to get back and study for quiz anyway. See you."

He placed a quick, sweet kiss on Nancy's lips and smiled the smile of an angel. She returned the smile and started off towards the car with George and Bess.

"Wait," Dave said, catching up with Bess, and pulling her back. "So will you go with me?"

Bess laughed. "I have to go."

Dave tugged her back gently. "Come with me."

Bess almost melted under the perfect gaze and controlled an ecstatic shiver. When she spoke it was in a shaky whisper. "Okay."

A slow smile spread across Dave's face, adding to the gorgeousness. He bit his lower lip. "Perfect."

He let go of her arm and she wobbled for a second, before collecting herself and running to catch up with her friends.


	2. Chapter 2

DISCLAIMER: Still with the not owning.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Things have been hectic with school and work. Sorry it took so long. Please and review!

Chapter 02

"Nancy Drew, you are in so much trouble," Bess growled after they'd gotten on the highway.

"Trouble? Why?" Nancy asked, looking over at her.

Bess glared at her. "How could you have kept Dave a secret from the rest of us. Such a gorgeous, sexy, adorable, charming, funny, sweet smelling-"

"Mi, mi, goo, goo, da, da, goopy pants," George added from the back seat and dodged a smack aimed at her.

"-wonderful secret?" Bess finished.

Nancy laughed. "You liked him, huh?"

"He's perfect," Bess swooned and George snorted dismissively.

"So, I'm guessing that you're coming with me to the game on Friday?"

"You. Must. Take. Me," Bess said, clinging to her arm.

Nancy laughed again. "Of course. I told you to come before."

"Oh Dave," George mocked. "The lampposts are so white and shiny. It must've been a lot of hard, sweaty work to paint them all. Please lick me all over."

"Shut up, ass face," Bess told her cousin, but couldn't help but laugh with her friends.

The girls rode into River Heights at just about noon. Nancy turned into her neighborhood. It was the middle of fall and there was a nasty cold front coming through. A strong, chilling wind was whipping through the streets.

"Oh, poor Ira," Bess murmured, looking out her window at the elderly postman trudging down the streets.

Ira Nixon was lugging a huge mail sack over his shoulder. The old man had hi coat pulled tightly around him, but was still turning his face from the harsh bite of the wind. Nancy slowed next to him and lowered the window.

"Ira," she called and the man turned at the sound of her voice. She gave a pretty smile. "Do you want a ride?"

Ira managed a smile and shook his head. "Thank you, Nancy, but I can't. I have to stop at every house today. I have the truck at the end of the block anyway. I have a special letter for you, Nancy. Airmail all the way from the London!"

Nancy's eyes lit up. "London! Cool. If you're sure? I'll be waiting at the house. I'll have some nice hot chocolate waiting for you."

Ira gave a wave as he started up another driveway. "Thank you, sweetheart."

Nancy raised the window and drove the few houses to her own huge, colonial style brick home. It was set back from the street with a wide, curving driveway. Nancy parked her car in the garage and headed into the house with her friends.

"Hi Hannah, we're back!" Nancy called out.

"Oh good. I'm in the kitchen," Hannah called out to them.

Hannah smiled as the girls filed into the kitchen. Hannah Gruen had been with the Drew family since the death of Nancy's mother when she was three years old. She had been like a mother to the girl, kind and nurturing. She was an indispensable part of the family. She was in her early fifties, and had a kind pretty face with warm brown eyes and light brown hair that was flecked with gray. She handed the girls hot chocolate.

"Hey, is there any left?" Nancy asked, swallowing her first gulp. "Because I promised Ira some."

"Of course," Hannah said instantly. "That poor man is out in this cold?"

"Yeah, poor guy. He should've called in sick," George commented, wriggling out of her coat. She draped it over the extra chair at the kitchen table.

"He says I have a letter from England," Nancy told Hannah.

"England? Who do you know in England?" Hannah asked.

Nancy shrugged. "No one. I don't know who would be writing me from London."

"Maybe Ned has some competition," Bess teased.

George rolled her eyes at her cousin. "Do you _always_ have to think about the mushy crap?"

"Of course," Bess snuffed. "It's the most fun. Not that you would know, you big, insensitive brute."

Just then Nancy heard some muffled sounds from the front porch. Hannah began pouring another mug of cocoa and Nancy went to answer the door. She smiled at the man as he wiped his feet on the entrance mat and walked into the front hallway. He set his heavy bag down next to the small table near the door.

Nancy felt a surge of pity for the man. He'd worked hard all his life, managing to scrape by. He looked so exhausted, Nancy prayed that he'd be able to hold out until his retirement coming up in January. It was only a few months away, but he looked ready to fall apart.

Ira eagerly took the hot mug and sipped it slowly. Nancy wanted to ask about her letter, but she waited. The poor guy deserved a break. Hannah brought out some cookies she'd made that morning and the group sat talking and munching. After his second mug, Ira got up, saying he had to go.

Nancy had just started to help Hannah clean up the mugs when she heard Ira cry out from the front hallway. Nancy set everything down and rushed out to the hallway along with her friends.

"What happened? What's the matter?" Nancy asked, worriedly putting her hand on the old man's back.

Ira was pale and shaking. "They're gone. All the letters are gone!"

Gone?" Bess repeated. She peeked into the drooping mail sack. There were only a couple of magazines at the bottom. "How can they all be gone?"

"Someone stole all the mail," Ira said in a rasping whisper. His legs wobbled and Nancy reached out to steady him, concerned.

George turned to her friend. "You're letter from London. Now we'll never know."

"That's not the worst part," Ira mentioned, voice cracking. "Oh, dear Lord. I have a certified letter for your father, Nancy. It might have contained some legal documents. No, no, no… only six more weeks to retirement and now this happens. Now, of all times!"

"Come on, Ira," Hannah demanded, leading him to the couch and having his sit down. "This can't possibly be pinned on you. It's not your fault."

Ira groaned and gripped his head in his hands. "It is my fault. One of the fundamental rules is that a mail carrier has to have his bag with him at all times. 'Stupid, senile old man,' they'll say. I'll never get my pension now."

"Oh, that can't be true," Bess said soothingly.

Nancy was struck with a sudden idea. "Wait, the guy can't be that far away. Let's go, maybe we can still catch him!"

"Nancy, I don't think that's a very good-" Bess began, afraid.

"Perfect!" George interrupted, jumping up from her seat. She ran with Nancy to the front door. "Come on Bess, you big chicken!"

"I'm not a chicken, George!" Bess called out angrily clenching her fists.

"BWAK!" came the squawked reply and the door closed behind the two girls.

Bess stamped her foot and huffed, glaring murder at the door. "Asshole. I'll show you chicken."

Nancy was looking around as Bess joined them at the end of the long, curved driveway. "You go left, I'll go right."

"Got it," George said and started off, Bess following her.

Nancy started walking quickly down the block, looking for anything that could tell her where the man with the letters had gone. A little ways down the street, Nancy spotted Tommy Johnson. The seven year old was riding his bicycle around, trying to unsuccessfully pop a wheelie. Nancy jogged to catch up to him.

"Tommy!" she called out, breathless and hurried.

"Hey Nancy," Tommy replied, catching sight of her. "I just set a new world record. You want to see me go real fast?"

"Maybe later, kiddo. Have you been riding past my house?"

Tommy nodded. "Just came from by there."

"Did you see some one come out? Someone you don't know?"

Tommy nodded again. "Yeah, some guy came out from your house."

"Do you remember what he looked like?"

"Um… he was pretty tall and he almost knocked me over. He was a big jerk because he almost knocked me off my bike. But since I'm such a good biker rider, I stayed on. Oh, yeah, and he was wearing a yellow jacket."

"Yellow jacket?" Nancy repeated, drawing back confused. "Like a raincoat?"

"Nope. It looked like a biker jacket, you know? Like it was leather and stuff, but it was yellow."

"Tan, maybe?" Nancy said more to herself.

"No. Yellow," Tommy insisted. "Like a lemon. And a hat that was yellow too. A hat like the one my grandpa wears when he goes golfing." Nancy thought for a second, then turned her attention back to the boy as he spoke again. "Hey, Nancy, you know how you're like a detective and stuff?"

Nancy laughed, "I'm not a detective."

"Well, you were in the newspaper for helping out with that police thing about a burnt house. Well, sometimes, I like to pretend I'm a cool detective too. Just for fun, but I know something else. I followed him a little bit because he was acting weird and he had a car. I think the guy is in love with yellow because he had a car that was yellow too."

"In a car, huh? Now wonder he's no where around," Nancy muttered to herself. "What kind of car was it?"

Tommy shrugged. "I don't know, but it was old and pretty beat up. I guess he was poor and liked yellow. But the thing I remembered about his car was that his license plate started with 'TJ12.' I can't remember the rest."

Nancy celebrated in her head. "You're the best, Tommy."

The boy flared in a bright blush as she bent and kissed his cheek happily. He grinned and then asked in a much shyer voice, "Was he a friend of yours Nancy?"

"No, he wasn't," Nancy replied. "Why do you ask?"

"Because he had all your mail. He was stuffing letters in his pockets. You get a lot of mail, Nancy."

Nancy straightened. Now there was no doubt that this man was the mail thief. Nancy smiled down appreciatively at Tommy again and stroked his hair.

"Thanks, Tommy," Nancy said. "You're the best."

She met up with Bess and George at the end of the driveway. They hadn't seen or found out anything about the man. Nancy told them what Tommy had told her and George sighed.

"Figures that you would get all the local kids to spy for you," she muttered and Nancy laughed, leading the way inside.

Ira Nixon turned towards them anxiously. "What did you find?"

Nancy sighed. "I didn't find the letters or the guy, but I did get some information from Tommy who was riding his bike and saw the guy leave in a yellow car. I got a part of the license plate number so I can give it to the police. Sounds like a weirdo really. Tommy says he was wearing a yellow golfer's cap and a yellow leather jacket."

The blood suddenly drained from Ira's face and he gaped at the girl.

Nancy's brow furrowed, worried.

"Are you okay Ira?" Bess asked the man.

"Impossible," he murmured, not listening to them. "No. No, no, no! It can't be! Oh, God, what do I do?"

Everyone froze, shocked, as Ira slumped into a faint.


	3. Chapter 3

DISCLAIMER: Not mine.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm back, baby! Sorry it took so long. Enjoy and review! Thanks all the loyals!

Chapter 03

Hannah leapt forward instantly to help the man. She fanned him and sent Bess to get a cold compress. The girl ran out of the room and came racing back a few seconds holding a wet towel. However, Ira didn't respond to the treatment, to any treatment.

"I'm calling a doctor," Nancy stated, walking over to the phone.

"We don't know who his doctor is," Hannah said.

"I'll call Dr. Amundson. He's right up the street, I'm sure he'll come," Nancy said, finding the number in the phonebook.

Hannah nodded her agreement, continuing to try and revive Ira, but the man didn't react to anything. Nancy dialed the number three times, but no one answered the call. Finally, she turned with a defeated sigh. George, pacing anxiously with a scowl on her face, looked over her friend's face and made a decision.

"I know where Amundson lives, I'll run over and see if he can come myself," she snapped, tense and angry. She grabbed her coat from the rack and throwing it over her shoulders before rushing out the door of the house.

Nancy, Bess, and Hannah waited anxiously for George to return. When she did, she had the doctor trailing after her. He stamped the dirt from his shoes on the entrance mat and walked into the living room, his brow furrowed in concentration.

"Oh, thank God!" Bess said, giving a relieved smile. "We're so happy you came."

"We're just lucky that I came to have lunch at home today," the doctor said politely, then bent to begin his examination.

Though Hannah stayed with the letter carrier through the examination, the girls ducked into the kitchen.

"What the hell do you think made him faint the way he did?" George asked aloud, making sure to keep her voice from being heard outside.

Bess shrugged. "He's old. Guess the shock was too much for him."

Nancy shook her head, biting her lip. "No way. He only fainted like that after I told him about the guy that Tommy had seen. I'll put money down on the fact that Ira knew who he was. Or at least he thought he did." Nancy shook her head. "I think I'd better call the police… and the postal inspector… _and _my dad."

The two cousins nodded their consent as Nancy picked up the kitchen phone and dialed the police station. When the secretary picked up, she asked for Captain McGinnis, a good friend of the family. He'd known Nancy since she was a baby. When he came onto the line, she told him everything that had happened, including the description that Tommy Johnson had given her.

"Jesus," McGinnis sighed and she knew that he was shaking his head. "I've know Ira for a long time and he didn't deserve this. Damn it all to hell. Anyway, thanks, kid. We'll put an alert out for the guy in the… yellow," there was a scoff, "jacket. What kind of weirdo buys a yellow leather jacket?"

Nancy said goodbye and called the postal inspector. He wasn't in the office at the moment, but the assistant postal investigator took down the message and said that he'd pass the word along.

Finally, Nancy called her father's office. Carson Drew was a successful and well-known criminal attorney. It was from him that Nancy got her love for adventure and her deductive intelligence. He'd instilled the passion for solving difficult problems and for righting situations. Mr. Drew would sometimes ask for help with his cases from his daughter and she was always happy to oblige. His secretary picked up the phone and passed her along after a moment.

"Hey, Nance," he said happily. "What's going on?"

Nancy sighed. "Nothing good. We've had quite a morning."

"What happened? Something went wrong at Emerson?"

"No, but everything went to hell when we got back home," Nancy responded and told him the entire story.

He listened calmly. "My God," he said when she had finished. "Jesus. Well, you need to keep me informed and I want to know when Ira is conscious again. Now, this registered letter that Ira mentioned, I have a feeling I know what it was. I think it probably contained a large amount of money."

"No," Nancy said, dread in her voice. "But, wait, why would it be full of cash? I mean, isn't it kind of stupid to send money through the mail. Most people don't do it."

"Yes, it is stupid and no, most people don't do it," Mr. Drew replied, weary annoyance in his voice. "But I have a client, Mrs. Quigley, who is neither that smart nor 'most people.' I've told her a million times not to send me cash, checks only, but she never listens and I think she probably ignored me… yet again. She'd one of those really rich women with ideas that don't exactly match the rest of the world. I handle a lot of things for her and she sends me money about twice a month."

"Wait, but she usually sends the money to the house? That's not that-"

"Yeah, yeah. I know, but she does it anyway. Look, let me call her and find out if – hold on a minute, sweetie." There was s light scuffle as the phone was smothered against his chest and she heard her father talking to what she imagined was his secretary. A moment later he came back on the line. "Sorry, look I have to go. Mrs. Quigley is actually here and I'll ask her. I'll call you back."

"Okay. Love you, dad."

"Love you too, baby. Talk to you in a bit."

Nancy turned to Bess and George and gave a disbelieving laugh. "My dad's stupid client sends cash through the mail… to our house."

Bess and George barked laughs and shook their heads.

"Nice. She must be a gem," George stated.

It was another minute or two before the phone rang again. It was Carson.

"Nance, what I told you is true."

"Great," Nancy said, shaking her head. "What a dork."

"Yeah. Still, it's kind of embarrassing having my client's money stolen from my house. Not exactly worth bragging over." He paused and sighed. "How's Ira?"

Nancy motioned towards the door and Bess peeked out from the kitchen into the family room, where Dr. Amundson was just standing and talking to Hannah.

"How's he doing?" she asked.

"He's coming around and I've gotten in contact with his doctor. He's going to met him at the hospital. An ambulance is on the way," Dr. Amundson replied.

Nancy let her father know and he sighed. "Well, at least he's all right. Keep me posted. I need to talk to Mrs. Quigley. See you at home tonight."

Nancy hung up and walked out with the girls to the family room. Amundson was getting his things together. He had to get back to the office, he had an appointment waiting.

Ira was getting color back into his cheeks after a cup of hot tea that Hannah insisted he drink. Nancy was dying to ask who he thought the thief was, but didn't want to push him over the edge again. He turned to look at her.

"I'm sorry about your father's letter," he mentioned. "I can't even remember who it was from. I'm getting too old to be of much use anymore."

Nancy waved away his concern. "Don't worry, about it, Ira. My dad kind of knows where it's from. Do you remember who sent my letter?"

Ira thought for a moment. He grimaced a little. "Not exactly. I seem to remember it wasn't from just one person. It had three names… like a firm or a business."

"Well, that's a start," Bess said hopefully.

Nancy nodded eagerly, "Please try to remember, Ira."

"Hmm," Ira closed his eyes. "Okay, I think… I think the first name of the firm was… Christ. What was it? Think, old man, think." He murmured something under his breath as all the girls watched, waiting. His eyes snapped open. "Yes! That's it! The first name was Malmsbury. Clear as a bell, I'm sure of it."

"Great," Nancy said. But, in her head she knew that there had to be tons of business with "Malmsbury" in the title in or around London. Tracking down the sender of her letter was going to take forever.

The ambulance arrived then. The paramedics did a quick check up on him, then escorted Ira onto a stretcher. He wasn't happy about riding it, but he did as he was told, muttering about the embarrassment involved with being wheeled out on a stretcher. Nancy and her friends giggled to themselves and watched him go, promising to visit him soon. Once the ambulance had gone, they flopped onto the couched, exhausted and drained. After a while, Nancy leaned forward.

"Hannah," she said. "You've known Ira forever. What can you tell me about him?"

Hannah sighed. "The poor man has had a rough life. He's never been married and he lives alone in a small house on the other side of River Heights. His father passed away when he was a baby. His mother remarried, to another man named Nixon if you can believe it, a lot later in life and had another son."

"So he has a half brother," Bess put in, peeling a banana and biting into it.

Hannah nodded. "Thirty years younger."

George whistled and raised her brows. "Quite an age difference."

"Indeed. When Ira's mother died, she left in the will some money and the house he now lives in to him."

"But nothing to the brother?" Nancy asked, bemused.

"The fact is that the property and the money had belonged to Ira's father and she'd been putting it aside for his son. His brother, Edgar, had no rights to it. But the man is a brute and a beast. He's been very nasty lately, according to Ira. He won't leave the poor man alone, demanding a part of the money. He's threatened him and everything. Ira's going to end up giving in soon. He's too weak to resist anymore."

"Is this ass-" George cut herself off at Hannah's disapproving look. "-suming… jerk of a brother that bad off?"

"Where does Edgar live?" Nancy asked.

Hannah shook her head to both question. "Ira doesn't know. Edgar never tells him where he lives or what he does. Seems odd to me, but then, so does a man who threatens his older brother for cash. Yesterday morning, Ira was telling me that Edgar had come the night before to talk to him. He got furious because Ira wouldn't give him any money and cursed at him. Called him all kinds of horrible names and threatened to take the will issue to court. Ira can't possibly live up to that."

Nancy was thinking hard. "You know, I've just got an idea. What if Edgar Nixon is the guy who stole the mail? It would ruin his brother."

"Yeah!" Bess said, catching the drift. "That's probably why Ira fainted. He recognized the description of his brother… or at least the description of his brother's car or something."

Just then there came a knock at the door and they turned to look, confused as to who it could be. Nancy stood, followed by Hannah and the cousins. She pulled the door open. Standing on the wide front porch was a young man in a button down shirt and tie. He was trying a little too hard to look sophisticated and responsible.

"Hello?" Nancy said.

"I'm Mr. Horace Moore," he said.

"_Mr._ Horace Moore," George scoffed under her breath and Bess elbowed her, trying not to laugh.

"I'm an investigative aide to the River Heights' postal inspector. Are you Nancy Drew?" he asked gruffly.

"Well, yeah, I am," Nancy said. "Can I do something for you?"

He stared at her hard, then pompously fixed his tie. "Ma'am, you've broken the law. You're in trouble with the authorities!"


	4. Chapter 4

DISCLAIMER: Not with the owning of the Drew and the Nancy…

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry, sorry, so sorry! My computer broke. PLEASE read and review. Tell me what you think and what you guys want to see next. THANKS!

Chapter 04

"Whoa, whoa," George said, shaking her head and looking at the presumptuous little jerk on the doorstep. "What? Nancy Drew broke the law? Are you sure you aren't looking for me?"

"I don't have time for game, _Miss,_" Moore hissed at the brunette.

Nancy had been sizing the man up. He had to be two, maybe three years older than her… max. His attitude annoyed her, but she said nothing about it.

"How exactly did I 'break the law?'" Nancy asked finally.

He looked her over as if he pitied the poor, stupid girl standing before him. When he spoke it was condescendingly.

"Miss Drew," he drawled. "You may not be aware of this simple fact, but it is against the law to invite a mail carrier into your home when he is on duty."

"Maybe," Nancy responded curtly, still trying to play off some kind of polite tone to her voice. "But don't you think this is an exception to the case? Ira Nixon is an elderly man and he'd been out in the wind for a long time. He was cold and exhausted. Besides, he didn't even bring the mail into our house with him. He left here at the entrance."

"Ha! Even worse," Moore crowed obnoxiously and Hannah put on hand on George's arm, restraining her. "Our mail carriers know the rules. One of the most important rules is that they _always_ keep their mailbags with them."

"Are you aware that Ira is in the hospital? _The hospital?_" Bess asked.

"I had heard something like that. Still, it doesn't excuse him. It doesn't excuse you, either."

"That's fine," Nancy said, rising to the challenge. "I'll take the heat. Let me call my father and he'll drop by your office later today."

Moore, however, wasn't going to leave that easy. "What does your father have to do with this?"

"Well, you're quite familiar with the law, right?" Nancy snapped, unable to control herself anymore. "Well, according to the law, it says that every free citizen is allowed to confer with their lawyer. It just so happens that my dad is my lawyer."

Moore was thrown back at that. He blinked several times, trying to regain his composure. "I guess you're right. When the postal inspector returns I'll give him the message."

"Good."

"Hey," George said. "You know what our most important rule is?"

Moore looked at her, shaking his head.

George slammed the door in his face.

"Ass!" Bess called towards the door.

They watched out the window as he turned and walked towards his car, shaken. Nancy huffed, pissed, and clenched her fists.

"What a prick!" she said.

"Nancy!" Hannah gasped. "Your language!"

"Sorry, but he is."

"True, but still…"

"Anyway, the postal inspector is a reasonable man-"

"A reasonable, likeable man," George added, still angry.

"Yeah. I'm sure he'll understand. I mean, Ira's been in this business for a long, long time and he's never once failed them. They know that and I'm sure they'll cut him a break." Nancy sighed.

They all stopped suddenly as they heard the front door open and close. A few seconds later, Mr. Drew appeared in the doorway, shrugging out of his coat and setting his briefcase down.

"Hey," he greeted with a smile and gave Hannah an appreciative look as she put a hot mug of cocoa into his hands. "Thanks."

"Hi dad," Nancy said, a little surprised. "What are you doing home so early?"

"Truth is, I was so curious about this whole mail thing that I just ducked out early. What happened when you hung up with me? The whole thing is outrageous."

"Oh, you'll love this," George said with a grin. "The whole thing gets better and better by the second."

Between Nancy, Bess, and George, with a few side comments from Hannah, Carson was told about _Mr. _Horace Moore and what he'd said. George very happily explained how he'd been dismissed. Mr. Drew laughed at that and squeezed her shoulder.

"You always did have people skills, George," he said with a smile. "That was smart saying that you'd be talking to your lawyer, Nancy. That kid was way out of line. He can't pin any blame on you, it wasn't your fault. I'm sure that the actual Postal Inspector will agree and I'm pretty sure that he'll be pretty lenient towards Ira."

Nancy sighed and shrugged. "How's that woman? The one who sent you the money through the mail. What was her name? Ms. Squiggles?"

Her father laughed again. "Mrs. Quigley was pretty thrown. My secretary had to bring in some black coffee. She broke down and started crying. She finally admitted that I was right and she should've listened to me and sent a check."

They talked for a while about the mail theft. After about an hour, George and Bess said that they had to go home for dinner. A little while after that, a call came in for Mr. Drew from a client. HHHHe'd gotten into a bad accident and needed Mr. Drew to come right away. He kissed Nancy goodbye, said he'd probably come home late, then walked out the door, adjusting his tie. Hannah suggested that they go to a movie, and Nancy complied. She got home and went to sleep, still thinking about the mail incident at her house. In the morning, Ned called her.

"Hey Ned," she greeted with a smile.

"Well, hello. What are you up to?" Ned's voice replied from the other end of the line.

Nancy shrugged. "Not much, but I have to tell you what happened when I got back home yesterday."

She launched into her story and Ned listened quietly, letting her finish. When she was done, he sighed and Nancy could tell he was shaking his head.

"Jesus, you live an interesting life Nancy Drew," he said. "I can tell that I'm in for a bumpy ride, aren't I?"

Nancy bit her lip shyly. "It depends on you. You don't have to stay on for the whole journey. You know you can climb off any time you want."

"Oh shut up," Ned said and dismissed the subject. "So, what is going to happen now. You'd better still be coming for the game."

"Of course I'm coming for the game. I just need to find out about this London letter and then I need to find out who stole all the mail."

"You know, River Heights does employ a police force. They can do the job just as much as you can. Maybe not as well, but whatever."

Nancy laughed. "You know what they say. If you want something done right, do it yourself."

Ned sighed again. "Speaking of the game…"

"Uh huh," Nancy said, intrigued.

"I need a little favor…"

After Nancy's phone call with Ned, she went to the hospital to visit Ira Nixon. Hannah had forced her to take him some soup in a container, even though Nancy told her that they would just make her throw it out. She had the soup smuggled in her large purse and was ushered in to see the mail carrier.

"Hey, Ira, how are you feeling?" she asked, smiling at him and squeezing his hand.

"Oh, I'm fine, believe me. These doctors just won't let me go home. They're quite a paranoid lot, aren't they?" Ira comment, obviously a little annoyed.

"That's doctors for you. I brought you some soup that Hannah sent. It's contraband so eat it quick."

Ira smiled thankfully and began eating the soup. His cheeks flushed with color and the man seemed to perk up afterwards.

"I'll bet I know why you're here to see me," Ira said with a twinkle in his eye.

"I'm here to see how you are," Nancy said, feigning surprise at the thought of her having come with some other intention.

"Oh please, I know what the driving force was though. You wanted to know if I can give you any more information on that letter of your from London."

Nancy smiled sheepishly. "Well, no that you bring it up, I was kind of wondering about it."

Ira laughed. He stirred the last of his soup around as he sobered. He didn't look up at the girl when he spoke next. "I think I should tell you why I fainted yesterday at your house. Mind you, I need you to know that I don't believe what I'm about to say, it was just an initial shock reaction."

Nancy nodded, and leaned forward to listen to him. He told her all about his brother Edgar. They story was basically the same one as Hannah's, only less prejudiced and with sweeter words than the ones Hannah used. He said that when she described the jacket and the car, he had thought of his brother instantly, but that, although Edgar was a pest, he was sure that he wasn't as cruel as stooping to thievery for revenge.

Nancy thought a moment. "What did Tommy mean by a yellow jacket. Do you think he meant tan?"

Ira shrugged. "The one my brother owns is yellow. Quite shocking actually. Edgar has always had an… eccentric taste. He's always liked things that are flashy and that stand out. He has a yellow, leather jacket, like a biker's jacket. He used to have a motorcycle and he thought that the jacket was extraordinary because he'd never seen one like it before. Actually, Edgar can pull it off if anyone ever could, he's really a good-looking man." He sighed and then his mood changed into old Ira again. "Sorry that I can't tell you any more about your letter to London."

"Don't worry. I have to get going anyway. Thanks for talking with me, Ira, and please get better soon."

"I'm better now, if only those doctors would admit it."

Nancy laughed and waved goodbye. One her way back home, she called her father.

"Hey dad," she said. "I wanted to ask you something."

"Tell me," Carson replied.

"Do you think that with the name Ira gave me, Malmsbury, we might be able to ask for a copy of the letter that was sent to me? I know it's a slim chance and all, but maybe there's something in it."

"Well, we can sure as hell try. Let me call around and I'll talk to you later."

"Okay, dad, thanks. Love you."

"Me too. Bye."

Nancy went home and took a shower. It wasn't until Monday, midmorning that Mr. Drew got back to her. He called her just before lunch with the news.

"Hey, sweetie, I called a lawyer friend of mine in London. He owed me a favor."

"Really?" Nancy said ecstatically. "What did her find out?"

"Well, he managed to track down a law firm in the city by the name of Malmsbury and Bates-Jones."

"That has to be it! Ira said it had three names," Nancy said enthusiastically.

Mr. Drew laughed. "I hope so. Anyway, he's going to call them up and see if they'll send a duplicate letter based on the circumstances. If it's not them, he's going to keep looking for whoever it was that did write you."

"Awesome! That's so great. Maybe in a few days the whole London mystery will be over."

"Sometimes you're still such a kid. Like I've told you a million times before, don't get your hopes up too high, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, okay. Thanks for the help, dad," Nancy said and hung up with her father.

Nancy was sitting in the kitchen, thinking, while Hannah cleaned up from breakfast. She knew that the girl was deep in thought because she was carefully chewing on her bottom lip and looking off into the distance. Nancy stood suddenly, shaking herself awake again.

"I need to get out of this house," she said.

"Where are you going to go?" Hannah asked.

Nancy shrugged. "I don't know. I was thinking of maybe stopping by Ira's house. I know that he rents and I was hoping that the woman would maybe be there. I know it's a long shot, but I'm kind of out of options. I need to talk to someone and see if maybe they can give me some more information about Ira or his brother."

"Might as well give it a shot. Be careful and keep your phone on," Hannah said as the girl grabbed her coat, kissed the housekeeper goodbye and walked out the door.

Ira lived on the other side of River Heights in a small house. She drove into his street and singled out the little place. It was an old house, and worn, but he'd done a good job of keeping it presentable. The garden was well tended and the house was clean-looking. It might not have been as updated as the houses around it, but it had an old charm. Nancy parked in front of the house and got out of her car. She looked around, hoping to find someone there, but there was no one at the house. The only people around where two women who were sweeping up some trash from the street. Nancy walked up to the door and knocked, but like she knew, no one answered. She hesitated, not wanting to give up on her search. She turned back to the women across the street and headed over to them.

"Excuse me," she called out and the women turned.

"Yes? Can we help you?" one of them asked with a kind smile. The other stopped what she was doing to pay attention.

Nancy smiled charmingly. "I was wondering if you knew the man across the street, Ira Nixon."

"Of course," the second woman said. "Poor Ira. He's in the hospital now."

"Yeah, actually I was just there."

"Were you? How is he doing?"

"He's a lot better and he should be getting out soon. He's resting now. I know it sounds weird, but it's actually a good thing that he's in the hospital now. He kind of got a mini break from life and it let him kind of catch up on sleep."

"That's great," the first woman said. "He needed it."

"Especially with that no good brother of his," the other mentioned.

"His brother?" Nancy asked, pretending to know nothing.

"Oh yeah. Edgar Nixon is a horrible man. He was here today, but he couldn't get in of course."

"He comes by in that nasty, old car of his. Today he let a bunch of trash fall out of it. He completely littered the street with some old letters. We just finished picking the last of them up."

"Letters?" Nancy repeated, pleasantly surprised at this new clue. "Do you mind if I…?"

"No, of course not. Have a ball," they both said, motioning towards a large garbage can on the lawn.

Nancy walked to it and peeked in, hoping that her luck held. With a sigh of relief, she reached in and grabbed a handful of crumpled, dirty letters that had smeared addresses from her block. Most of them looked like they have been wet and a lot of them were illegible. She stopped cold as, after lifting a handful of letters, she found one that had been ripped open and badly stuffed back into the envelope. She was unable to make out most of the letter, but what there was left caught her attention. She dropped the other letters back into the bin and carefully pulled out the letter in question.

"…Drew… money has been sent…"

_This is it!_ she said to herself. _This is the letter from London!_

Nancy began to think that maybe what George had once told her was true. Maybe she wasn't as talented as everyone believed, maybe she just worked on incredible luck. She turned to the two ladies, who were watching her, waiting.

"Do you mind if I take this one with me?" Nancy asked.

They shook their heads. "Not at all. It's just a bunch of trash."

"Thank you. Thank you so much," Nancy said, turning back to her car. "By the way, you may want to call the postal inspector about those letters."

Nancy got into her car and started back towards her house when she noticed a yellow car crossed slowly across the street perpendicular to her. From the distance, she couldn't see the driver, but a thought occurred to her. Maybe Edgar, or, giving him the benefit of the doubt, whoever had stolen the letters, was checking up on Ira to see if he was home. Maybe they were watching out at his house. With this thought, she turned down the street after the car as it revved up and sped off. She tried to keep up, but she was losing them. After a couple more turns, she sighed and gave up. She headed towards home.

When she got in, she called Chief McGinnis on the phone and told him what she'd found out. She told him about the car.

"It might not be Edgar," she said to her friend. "But, whoever it was, I got his license plate number and it starts the same as the car that was here at my house."


	5. Chapter 5

DISCLAIMER: Again, I don't own Nancy Drew.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay, here you go. A brand new chapter. Please read and review. By the way, I got uber bored the other day and I did a little "project" on my own time. I made a PowerPoint presentation with a couple of pictures of who I thought would be good depictions of the characters. Unfortunately, as we all know, I can't upload it to this site. However, if anyone is interested in seeing it, just mention it to me in your review, I'll write you back and if you reply to that with your email, I can send it to you. Anyway, that's all. Just a little tidbit of fun and fresh-faced prettiness. Please enjoy!

Chapter 05

"No kidding," McGinnis said. "Why am I not surprised that you've found something out before we did?"

Nancy laughed. "Because I'm on vacation and I have more free time than you do."

"Oh sure. Pity me. That makes it so much better. So, what was the license plate?"

Nancy pulled out the little pad she'd written the number down on. "TJ12796."

"I'll run it and see what it pulls up. That is, if you give me a chance and don't go running to the DMV yourself to figure it out before me."

Again Nancy gave a laugh. "I promise I won't, but you will call me as soon as you know, right?"

"Of course. If not, the whole town will hear of our shame in the newspaper when you come out on the cover. Again. Solving something that we should have solved. Again."

"I'll talk to you later, chief."

"Bye Nancy."

She hung up the phone, then after a pause, picked it up again. She dialed the hospital and asked to be transferred to Ira's room. After two rings, a man picked up. He didn't sound like Ira.

"Is this Ira Nixon?" Nancy asked doubtfully.

"You mean the mailman? No he was sent home this morning," the guy said. "Sorry."

"No, thank you very much."

Nancy looked at her watch. It was already lunch time, she called Bess and they met up at a diner to eat. George was forced to do her laundry and was forbidden to leave her house on pain of death. She and Bess went to a McDonald's and sat at a back both, talking about the recent events that had unfolded at Ira's house.

"I was going to pass by after this to see how he is. Want to come?" Nancy asked Bess.

Bess nodded. "Sure." Her phone rang at that moment and she sighed, looking at the caller ID. "What do you want, butthead?"

"I WANT TO GET THE HELL OUT OF THIS HOUSE!" Nancy heard George yell on the other end. "I hate laundry!"

"And _I_ hate when you YELL IN MY EAR!" Bess screeched back. "How far along are you?" There was a grumble and a murmured answer. "Well, hurry the hell up. Nancy and I are visiting Ira Nixon at his house… that's not my problem. Don't you yell at me. Listen, woman, I don't give a rats ass… Fine!"

Bess hung up the phone, then complacently started eating the rest of her fries.

"What did she say?" Nancy asked.

"She said she'll meet us at Ira's house."

Nancy snorted a laugh. "Her mother is going to fry her alive."

Bess shrugged. "Whatever. So, about this dance on Friday…"

Nancy rolled her eyes and laughed. "Come on. Let's get going."

They drove to Ira's house and got there just a few seconds before George did. The tomboy sent them a devious smile and Nancy gave a knowing look.

"You snuck out, didn't you?" she said.

"What? The clothes are clean. It's just not put in the drawers," George retorted with a snort. She started up Ira's walkway.

"You know, the process and initial concept of laundry is for it to be put back into the drawers that it came from," Bess stated.

"Ah, I'll do it when I get back home."

"No you won't."

"Whatever." George knocked on the door.

"Yes?' came a slight voice from behind the door.

"Ira? It's Nancy Drew. I have Bess and George with me. We wanted to see how you were," Nancy called back.

"Oh! Nancy," the muffled reply seeped. The door opened on a smiling Ira Nixon. "Come in. Come on in, girls. How nice of you to stop by. They finally let me out of that hospital."

"We can see that," George said, but not unkindly. "You feeling better?"

"Oh, yes. Much better, thank you dear."

The talked for a while. Nancy wanted to ask about his brother, but she was afraid that he was still a little too weak and she said nothing. Ira brought the subject up himself.

"Nancy, do you remember how we were talking about my brother, Edgar?" he asked.

She pretended to think back, ignoring the cocked eyebrow from George and the muffled snigger from Bess. "Yeah! You're half brother, right? The one with the yellow jacket?"

"That's him." Ira reached into a drawer and pulled out a snapshot. "I found this picture this morning of him. Would you like to see it?"

"Sure."

He handed her the picture and she took a few seconds to memorize the face. He was pretty hot, she had to admit. He was lean and rugged looking, very masculine. He had an old style charm to him, he was a striking man, with dark hair and eyebrows and stunning blue eyes. He had a convincing smile on and an ambitious twinkle in his eye.

"Wow, he is very handsome," Bess remarked politely.

Ira smiled. "I see you take the view as all the other young ladies. Let me get you girls something to drink. I just made some iced tea."

George looked at Nancy when he was out of earshot. "What do you think?"

"I'm thinking that I wish I could keep the picture as identification, but there is no way I can get away with that," Nancy sighed and set the picture down on the end table next to the sofa they were seated on.

Ira came back and they made idle chitchat for a few more minutes, drinking the iced tea. Then, Nancy seeing that the old man was tiring out, gracefully said that they had to leave and got up with her friends. They walked out to the cars and George had on a gigantic grin.

"What did you do?" Nancy asked, knowing the look on her friend's face.

George snickered and pulled something out of her pocket. "Da, da, da, DA!"

"Oh my God, George! You stole from an old man!" Bess said, looking at the snapshot of Edgar Nixon.

"Like he'll notice it's gone," she scoffed.

"We have to give it back," Nancy said, a little guilty.

"Why? Look, we'll just say that we slipped it into our pockets by mistake, like if it was an accident. That is _if _he ever does notice it's gone. And besides, you know you want to keep it. 'Look for me Nancy,'" George said, dropping her voice to pretend to be Edgar Nixon. She moved the picture up and down. "'I'm an unethical asshole who stole your mail from my old, weak brother. You must find me!'"

Nancy couldn't help but laugh and snatched the picture from her hands. "Give me that and go finish your damn laundry."

"Aw," George said, sagging at the thought. "You made me sad."

Nancy and Bess drove to the Drew house and Bess left in her Mini Cooper. Nancy walked up to her room, not really knowing what to do next. She started trying to work all the facts through in her head, but she just gave herself the beginnings of a headache. She flipped on the TV and watched some mindless show she didn't really need to think about. Time passed quickly and suddenly there was a knock on her door. She looked at the clock on her nightstand and saw that it was already seven.

Nancy sat up, calling out, "It's open."

Her father's head poked into through the door and he smiled at his daughter. "Hi sweetie."

"Hey, you're home. God, it feels like I just laid down two seconds ago."

"I have something for you," Carson said with a devious grin. He held out a thin bow with a bow on it.

"What?" Nancy said, happily surprised as she took the box. "What is this for?"

Mr. Drew shrugged with a grin and Nancy opened the little box. At first she frowned down at it, a bit confused. There was an envelope inside. She looked up at her dad bemused and then back at the letter. Then her face brightened as she saw the return address on it. It read Malmsbury and Bates-Jones in London. She gasped and beamed.

"Are you serious? You got a copy of the letter?" she said ecstatically.

"My friend send it to me express from London. Did daddy come through or what?" Mr. Drew asked, hugging his daughter. "All right, all right, open it already. I want to see what it saws."

Nancy happily obliged, ripping the letter open and tugging out the sheet of paper that was inside. She read what it said aloud:

Dear Miss Drew:

This is to inform you it is possible an inheritance has been left to you. We are the legal representatives of the Estate of Jonathan Smith, late of Little Coddington, Midhampton, Berks., who died intestate on May 02, last. Mr. Smith had only a kin sister, from whom he was estranged, Mrs. Genevieve Smith Drew. We find she predeceased Mr. Smith by five years, leaving a daughter who is Mr. Smith's sole heir by law.

We have learned that the daughter, Miss Nancy Smith Drew, is in the United States, where our agents have been trying to trace her. You are the only Miss Nancy Drew so far discovered by them, and we beg of you to communicate with us.

If you happen to be the Miss Drewfor whom we are searching, will you be so good as to submit proofs of your identity, whereupon we shall be happy to make arrangements for your return to England to claim the inheritance.

Sincerely,

A.E. Lionel Bates-Jones

Nancy was silent for a moment and then looked up at her father who had is eyebrows raised in surprise.

"You were almost an heiress," he said finally with a shrug.

"Damn my bloodline," Nancy said jokingly and they laughed. "This close and I could've gone to England with a fortune. Darn. Wow, this is pretty twisted though."

Mr. Drew nodded. "So. What are you going to do now, I ask as if I didn't already know the answer?"

Nancy laughed. "I'm going to try to find the really Nancy Drew or…" she looked at the letter again, "actually, Nancy _Smith_ Drew. One name and I could've been rich. I need to call Ned." Her father gave her a look, a little grin tugging at his lips. She shoved him. "Shut up, I'm going to call George and Bess too, okay?" Carson said nothing, his smile just grew. She shoved him again. "Okay, that's it. Get out."

Mr. Drew let himself be pushed out the door. "Say hi to Neddy-poo for me."

"Out!"

Nancy called Ned, but he wasn't picking. She decided to call back instead of leaving a message. As she was about to call George, Hannah called upstairs.

"Nancy!" she called up the stairs. "The girls are here!"

"Okay, thanks!" Nancy called back, putting her phone down and heading downstairs.

Bess was sitting at the table and George was in the middle of a rant about why it was sexist to put the spoon on the right side of the plate… or was it the left side. Either way it was sexist and she would not stand for it. Nancy walked in, giving the girl a look and she grinned.

"You've got news," Bess said, looking up from her job in setting the glasses down. "I know that look."

Nancy told them the whole story about the letter and they congratulated her.

"By the way, don't worry about calling the firm," Mr. Drew commented. "I'll take care of that tomorrow morning, okay?"

"Thanks, dad, you're great," she said with a smile.

They group sat down to eat together, making small talk and laughing. They had just finished up with dessert; Hannah had just gone into the kitchen to make some coffee, when there was a knock on the door. They all looked towards the sound, confused.

"Who else do you know?" George asked and Nancy made a face at her as she stood.

George and Bess followed her to the door curiously. Mr. Drew was sitting in the kitchen, listening intently. Nancy opened the door and was more shocked than ever. Standing there on her porch was a woman she had never seen before. She was thin, with stringy gray hair and an angry, harsh face. She was wearing worn, well-used clothes, the most… striking… of them all was the fake fur coat that was wrapped around her thin shoulders. She had on a pissed face, obviously annoyed at something.

"Can I… can I help you?" Nancy asked.

"You Nancy Drew?" she asked in a haggard voice.

"Um… yeah? Can I – whoa!"

Nancy was cut off suddenly as the woman drew back her fist and aimed a punch at the girl's face.


	6. Chapter 6

DISCLAIMER: Nancy Drew is not mine (She's so totally Ned's;)!!)

AUTHOR'S NOTE: New chapter! Finally! Again, sorry for the wait. On a lighter, more personal note, the main reason I've been taking so long is because I GOT ENGAGED! YEAH! So I've been uber busy planning a wedding. Hoep you enjoy. Please review and tell me what you think!

Chapter 06

Nancy dodged the punch agilely even though she was caught off guard. George's hand shot out quickly and caught the woman's arm in a steel grip that the lady tried desperately to break.

"What the hell is the matter with you?" Nancy asked, outraged, looking at the woman in shock.

"What do you want?" Bess asked, brow furrowed.

"What I want are my rights," the woman said in a high-pitched shriek.

"Excuse me," Nancy said, shaking her head, trying to clear her thoughts. "Who the… who are you?"

"My name," the woman practically spat, tearing her arm away from George now that she was calm. Or, at least calmer. "is Skeets. Maud Skeets and now that you know it you ain't never gonna forget it. And I know you Nancy Drew, oh yeah, I know who you are. You run around town in your flashy little hotrod sports car like if you owned the place. I don't think girls should have cars, especially fast and flashy ones. There are too many accidents already."

"So… you tried to punch Nancy because she has a cool car?" George asked, glaring at her. "We can have you arrested, you know."

Mrs. Skeets snorted dismissively. "I can have _you_ arrested, you little smart ass. Young people today have no respect for their elders."

"What exactly is going on here?" Carson asked, stepping into the hall. He'd heard the racket from the kitchen and had come to see what was wrong. He furrowed his brow at the bedraggled woman on his porch.

"What are you?" she asked with a disapproving look. "Little Missy's boyfriend? Kind of old for a young girl like this, aren't you? You're one of them pervs, ain't you."

"I'm her father," Mr. Drew ground out angrily. You don't mess with Carson Drew. And you especially don't play with Nancy Drew in front of Carson Drew. "What exactly can we do for you?"

Again, Mrs. Skeets scoffed at him and stared defiantly, planting herself on the porch as if she was staking her claim. She was saying she wasn't leaving unless she wanted to. Mr. Drew gave her a look that matched and surpassed her determination.

"I suggest, ma'am, that you speak quickly, before I forcibly have you removed from my property."

The tone of his voice jolted the woman and she shifted a little less sure of herself. She looked at Nancy, her eyes narrowing conspiratorially.

"Well, what do you have to say about what you did?" she asked Nancy.

"Look, can you get to the point and tell why you're here?" Nancy exploded finally.

"I want my money, damn it."

George looked at Nancy and whispered. "Bad choice in loan sharks, dude."

"Can we back up here," Bess was saying. "Money? What money?"

"Look, my husband is a no-good, lazy sailor. Sailor Joe. Never did forgive him for leaving me behind so he could sail around the world. Anyway, he has a sister who ain't nothing like him. She's stingy, I mean stingy. Gets all her money from her rich husband. Now, she's kind of forced into sending us money every week. A hundred dollars a week. And where, I ask you, was last week's check?"

"And you think I stole it?" Nancy asked.

"I know you stole it! Because of that whole mess up with the mail at your house, I don't have my money this week and knowing Joe's cheap sister she ain't sending me no more until next week. I want my money and _you're_ gonna give it to me!" The woman was screeching.

"Now hold on a moment and lower your voice," Mr. Drew barked furiously, drawing his brow together. "Nancy holds no blame for the mail being stolen and your accusation that she, herself, stole any of those letters is absolutely unfounded."

"Don't use fancy words on me, Mr. Snappy. I want my money."

"Well, I regret to inform you that we are not giving you a dime. Goodnight," Carson said firmly, moving to shut the front door.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, you aren't getting rid of me that easy, sweetheart."

"Don't disrespect me in my own house by calling me 'sweetheart.'"

"Figures. Seems all Nancy Drews are the same."

"Wait, what?" Nancy said, surprised. "You know another Nancy Drew?"

Mrs. Skeets huffed. "Unfortunately."

"Where is she? Do you still know her?"

"Oh, sure, like I'll tell you. Here, I'll make you a deal. You give me my money, I'll tell you what I know about Nancy Drew."

Nancy thought about it for a moment. Her friends and her father were looking at her, waiting for her decision.

"Sorry, I can't," Nancy said. "But look, if I change my mind, I'll come and see you at your house."

"You know, so you won't waste a bus ride," George scoffed and Mrs. Skeets glared at her.

"I guess that'll work," the woman said with a little victorious tone to her voice as if she'd won. "I'll see you later, Miss Drew. I know it. You're a detective," she spat out mockingly, "you can find my house."

Mrs. Skeets left after that and Mr. Drew shut the door. They looked at one another for a moment and then they all broke out laughing.

"What a freak!" George laughed.

Nancy sobered, "What do you think, dad. Should I do it?"

Mr. Drew thought for a moment. "Yeah, actually I do."

Nancy smiled at him. "I'll go tomorrow morning then. I kind of want to find this other Nancy Drew."

Mr. Drew kissed his daughter's head. "Are you girls staying over tonight?"

Bess and George shrugged at each other. "Sure." They both pulled out their phones and called their houses to let their parents know.

The three girls headed up to Nancy's room. They had been hanging out there for a couple of hours when there was a small knock on the door and they all turned towards it, waiting. Hannah poked her head in and smiled, she opened the door and hanging on her arm was a floor-length evening gown.

"Did you forget that I need to hem this for you for the Emerson dance?" Hannah asked, shaking the dress for emphasis.

Nancy sighed and slapped her forehead. "Oh God, yeah I did."

"Well, come on," Hannah said, waving her hand to hurry Nancy on. "Put it on some heels and get into it so that I can get it pinned. I need to have it ready for you in a few days, Come on, so I can hem it tomorrow when you and the girls are gone."

Nancy nodded, took the dress and changed. She stood, slowly turning as Hannah pinned up the dress. Bess marveled at her, googly-eyed and sighed.

"God, you look gorgeous," she said, resting her head on her hand.

George rolled her eyes and gave her a sardonic look. "A little love-sick, aren't we?"

Bess smacked her with a pillow and Hannah laughed. Nancy grinned at her friends and glanced at herself in the mirror. She screwed her face up.

"It's missing something," she said, mostly to herself.

George and Bess looked up at her, and scanned her over, nodding.

"Yeah," Bess said, puzzled, trying to figure it out.

"A necklace," George put in, surprising everyone. She looked around and shrugged. "What?"

They all shook it off and Nancy looked herself over again. "You're right. Oh! That necklace that dad gave me for my birthday two years ago."

"Oh, that diamond pendant? Yeah, that's beautiful," Bess stated.

"Damn, the clasp is loose on it. Ooh, we can go get it fixed."

"Ha!" George scoffed, giving her a look.

"Come on, George, please," Nancy begged, pouting.

"No. Thank you. I'd much rather wait for you and Bess right here while I kick some computerized ass on your Wii."

Nancy slipped out of the dress and started to redress. She made a face at George, who refused to budge on her decision. Bess looked at her cousin with a glare.

"_I'll_ go with you. Come on, Nance, let's go," she offered as George started up the game console.

Hannah laughed to herself and took the dress with her to begin hemming it up. Nancy found the small box with the necklace in it. George began beating people up, yelling at her character. Bess rolled her eyes and walked out the door with Nancy, sliding into the passenger seat of Nancy's car. They drove to Whittier's Jewelry House, talking all the way there. They got out of the car, laughing and walked into the store.

"Nancy Drew! How are you, my girl?" Mr. Whittier asked, smiling at her.

"Fine, thanks," Nancy replied with a smile. "How are you keeping up?"

He shrugged and nodded. "Not bad. What can I do for you, sweetheart?"

"The clasp on my necklace is loose, do you think you can fix it? I wanted to wear it this weekend," she said, handing it to the jeweler.

He glanced at it for a few moments, then smiled. "Sure, I can have this done in a few minutes. Not that big a problem. I'm not busy now anyway. So, how's your father?"

"Dad's good," Nancy replied, looking over the display. "He's really busy now at work. Got a lot of cases right now."

Mr. Whittier made some muffled reply and after a couple of minutes he came back out. He showed her how the clasp worked perfectly. Nancy smiled appreciatively.

"Thanks so much, Mr. Whittier. You're the best," Nancy said. "How much do I owe you?"

Mr. Whittier rang her up and waited as she took out her wallet to pay. He took her card and began to charge it. While he was waiting for the machine to approve the credit card, he looked up at her.

"So, how did you like your new pin?" he asked with a telling smile.

Nancy looked at Bess who shrugged. "Pin? What pin?"

"You know, the pin that man got for you yesterday. He said it was for you. He said he was going to give it to you right away."

Nancy looked at him confused. Bess gave her a look.

"Why would Ned come down to River Heights to buy you a gift?" she whispered.

"I don't think he would," Nancy replied. "Would he? No way."

Bess shook her head, agreeing with her friend. Who the hell was going to give Nancy a pin?


	7. Chapter 7

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I am back!! So, so, so, SOOOO sorry about the long wait. It's pretty crazy planning a wedding, going to school, and switching from part-time to full-time! Plus, I kind of got caught up in another story. But I promise that I will update more frequently. I got over my hump… please read and review, I really want to know what you all think. Thanks to all of those who reviewed and have waited so patiently for this. I promise that I have even bigger ideas for this story than I did for _The Clue in the Diary_. So, if you guys are a fan of the added in romances, stay tuned!!

Chapter 07

Mr. Whittier looked guilty and a little regretful. "I guess I gave away a secret. The man will probably be angry with me now."

"Don't worry about it, it's all right," Nancy said, snapping out of it and smiling convincingly. She concealed the fact that her mind was racing with possibilities. What if this man wasn't buying _her_ a pin, but buying it for Nancy _Smith_ Drew? Maybe she could find her. "I promise to pretend to be surprised. There's no chance of getting a little hint? Please?"

"Please, please, please?" Bess added, making a pleading face.

Mr. Whittier gave a little smile and grimaced. "Well, I guess I've said so much already, it can't really hurt. He said he was from out of town. I think the name on his card was Nixon. Yeah, Nixon."

Bess shot Nancy a glance, but the redhead ignored her completely. Could it be Edgar Nixon? Whittier gave her a confused little look.

"You look a little worried," he said. "I guess I totally blew it. Oh God, I'm so sorry. Please promise you won't let him know I gave the secret away."

Nancy instantly put on a perfectly comforting smile. "I will act totally surprised."

"Well, good. I hope you like it." Mr. Whittier watched as she signed the credit card receipt, then added, "If you don't mind my asking, Nancy, where did you meet this Nixon guy?"

"Um," Nancy stalled, giving Bess a look. The other girl gave a miniscule shrug. Nancy handed back the receipt. "Through this mailing… thing. Why?"

Mr. Whittier raised his brows, obviously trying to be kind, but seemingly surprised at the connection between the two. "Nothing, I'm just saying that he seemed a little odd for you. He was very, uh… flashy. He had this very bold leather jacket and cap. A very bright yellow. But I guess that's what's in style today."

"So not even close," Bess murmured under her breath, rolling her eyes.

But Nancy was ecstatic. This proved for sure that the man who had bought her the pin _was_ Edgar Nixon. She highly doubted that two people, much less two people named Nixon, would have the same bright yellow leather jacket and riding cap. Maybe Edgar Nixon was going to give her a pin, but there was something else to it. There had to be.

Mr. Whittier went on to add, "He obviously had a very bold taste in dress. When he bought the pin for you, he also purchased a pair of cufflinks for himself. They were quite… original. Bright red with a black star in the middle. Quite shocking. But then again, I may just be old fashioned."

"I wouldn't like them myself," Nancy said as Bess tried to control her gag reflex. "Speaking of cufflinks, I saw this really nice pair in a catalog the other day and I wanted to know if maybe you had them. They were large white-gold squares with the black diagonals across them. I wanted to get my dad a pair for Christmas."

A smile came to the jeweler's face. "I know the kind well. They are quite spectacular. But I don't have them in stock. I'll order you a pair and let you know when they come in, okay?"

"Perfect. Thanks again Mr. Whittier," Nancy said with a smile and she and Bess left the store. "For way more than you know."

"Oh my God!" Bess exclaimed as they walked back towards Nancy's convertible. "How is it possible for one man to have such horrible fashion taste? Red with black stars? What the hell are you? Boy George?!"

Nancy laughed and stepped into the driver's seat. "Bess, you mind coming with me to see that Skeets lady? Her house isn't far from here."

Bess groaned. "Damn. Now I'm the one who would rather be home kicking computerized ass."

Nancy pouted at her friend as she drove. "Please? Please, please, please? I'll be your best friend…"

"I already have a best friend. But she's a total bitch asshole who makes me go on kamikaze suicide missions to crazy old lady's houses, so fine."

Nancy smiled and hopped in her seat elatedly. "Yay! Let's go."

Nancy drove into the rundown section of town. The houses were shabby and the paint on the buildings was peeling. Everything seemed kind of unkempt. She drove to Cottage Street and turned into the driveway of number 22.

"How did you get her address anyway?" Bess asked as the alighted.

"I have my ways."

"Oh, right. I forgot that you have the police chief at your beck and call."

Nancy ignored the comment and knocked on the door. It was old and worn, but the knobs were shined and the door was cleaned, though the paint was faded. She looked up as the door swung open and revealed a grizzled man in his early fifties. He smiled kindly.

"Thanks, but no thanks," he said in a deep, Irish accent. "We ain't interested in signin' up for any magazines."

Nancy laughed. "No, I think you got it all wrong. I'm not selling anything. I actually came to speak to your wife, Mrs. Skeets. Do you think I could talk to her for a sec?"

"Ah, well, that's different now, in'it? My lady's not home now. She should be back at about eleven."

Nancy glanced at her wristwatch. "She should be back soon then. Do you mind if we wait?"

"Not at all, lass. Come on in. You and your friend have yourselves a seat," Mr. Skeets said, pushing the door open wide and inviting them inside. The living room was papered in a deep red. The floor was a faded, worn wood with an assortment of different styles of rugs thrown about underneath the odd collection of furniture. None of the piece really matched, they were all just sort of thrown into the room together. On the walls 

were hundreds on knickknacks that the old man must have picked up on his travels. Skeets offered them a seat and some water, which they declined.

"Wow, it must be awesome to travel around and see so much," Nancy said, looking at a huge, dried starfish that hung on one of the walls. "Your wife told me that you were a sailor."

"Yes indeed, my girl. Sailor Joe as everyone in these parts calls me," the man said with a proud grin. "I've seen many an interesting thing. Why, once, while at port in Australia, I told one of the dock hands that I was an excellent pearl diver. Now, keep in mind that I can't swim a stroke. Well, that night when I went to rest my head, someone came and carried me away. Next thing I knew I had been thrown onto a ship that was really going pearl divin'!"

The sailor laughed uproariously. Nancy laughed along politely, but Bess looked at her friend.

"I don't get it," she whispered. "It's kind of sad."

Sailor Joe looked over the girls. "You don't get the joke, I see. Well, where I was born and grown up, pearl divin' meant washing the dishes."

"Oh," Bess said and gave a fake laugh.

Nancy didn't want Joe to start on another story. She wanted to talk to him, maybe get him in on some stuff about the other Nancy Drew before his wife came back home.

"How long have you lived here?" she asked, switching the topic.

The old sailor shrugged. "A year, maybe two. My old woman moved me out here in hopes I'd forget all about sailing and stay home more, but I could smell salt in the air in the middle of a desert." His eyes lit up, "Speaking of deserts…"

"Oh lord," Bess muttered under her breath.

"And, tell me," Nancy said desperately, interrupting before the story could take hold, "did you ever know a girl named Nancy Drew?"

"Nancy Drew?" Joe repeated, furrowing his brow. "Why, yes, I did. Kind young lass she was. Why? Do you know her?"

"Not really. I'm looking for a young woman named Nancy Smith Drew."

"She's wanted in England," Bess added.

"Wanted in England? That sweet child? She's never done anyone a wrong in her life! What could she be wanted for?" Joe asked, surprised.

Nancy laughed. "No, not wanted _that_ way. Not by the police or anything. She's actually entitled to an inheritance over there. She's due for a good deal of money as far as I know."

"Ah! Well, that's a whole different story. She used to room with us back in New York, when my lady ran a boarding house. I'm glad she's fallen into some money. Last I saw her she was hard up for some. She was studyin' to be an actress and she was a good one too. Always practicing in her room, she was. And, to tell the truth," Joe added, lowering his voice and leaning towards them almost conspiratorially, "I ain't one much for British lasses, but she was a real beauty. Tall and thin, she was, with a fine, deep voice and a charming smile."

"Where is now?" Nancy asked excitedly.

"I wouldn't know," Joe said. "She couldn't sign with any theater. Last I knew of her, she left us and went with a family down to some beach as a nanny for the kids."

"When was this?"

"Oh, about ten years ago. No, wait, not that long. Jesus, when was it? Think, Joe, think. I remember I had brought her back a souvenir and she was gone when I docked. You'll never guess what I got her. A little monkey, I did! I bought it from a Portuguese in Brazil. See, I had sailed down to Rio in – yes, of course! It'll be eight years in the spring that she left us."

Nancy sagged, deflated. She had been so close only to watch as the trail disappeared from before her again. She thought of something and looked up.

"Do you remember the family?" she asked.

"I traded that monkey away for a pair of boots, I did," Joe murmured to himself, still thinking back.

"Mr. Skeets," Nancy said desperately. "The family?"

Sailor Joe thought for a long second before shaking his head, a little confused. "I can't really recall now. English folks, they were. I think it may've been named Hilt or something. Or was it Washington?" He sighed and in that he happened to glance out the window. "Ah, here comes the missus now."

Nancy and Bess turned to look as Sailor Joe went to open the door for his wife. Her arms were full of brown grocery bags. She shoved past her husband.

"You'll get brisket corned beef for dinner 'cause it's the cheapest meat," she practically spat.

"Salted horse again," Joe complained.

"And don't you go complainin'. It's your fault we don't have money. Could'a been a doctor or somethin' useful." Just the Skeets caught a sight of Nancy and Bess on the couch and scoffed. "Humph. I knew you'd come." And with that she disappeared into the back room for a long minute. She came back out, wiping her hands on her knees.

"You bring the money?" she asked.

"Money? What money?" Joe asked, looking from his wife to Nancy. "What's all this about then?"

"Wadda ya mean what money? Our money. The money your tight-ass sister sends us every week! This is the girl who's responsible for it not gettin' here. I went to her house to go get it. Now do you got it or not?"

"But there's no way that she could've taken it," Joe interrupted again, outraged.

"I ain't askin' no questions. I just want our money."

"I didn't take your money," Nancy said, reaching into her bag for her wallet. "And I'm glad that you don't think I did, Mr. Skeets. Some letters were stolen from my house and your wife thinks there was a letter from your sister between them all."

"I ain't gonna let you pay one cent from that money! No respectable man would!" Joe roared angrily.

"Shut up, Joe! She's gonna pay back what she took if I have to beat it outta her!"

"Over my dead body!"

"We need to eat!"

"It's wrong, Maud, and you know it!"

"Wait a second," Nancy interrupted. "Look, I made a deal with your wife, Mr. Skeets. I'm not going to back out of it now."

"See," Skeets said smugly. "A deal's a deal. You show me the money, I'll tell you what I know about Nancy Drew."

Sailor Joe watched, pissed and shocked, as Nancy took a hundred dollar bill from her wallet and showed it to Mrs. Skeets. Nancy recapped what she had already learned from Joe and his wife glared at him.

"Joe told you too damn much," she growled. "Yeah, she left to go nanny some English brats. Their name was Wilson and last I heard, they spend the summers down at Breaker's Hotel somewhere on Cape Cod."

Nancy coldly handed over the bill. "Thank you both for the information. It was really nice to meet you, Mr. Skeets. Do me a favor and tell your wife about Nancy Drew's inheritance."

Sailor Joe was in a silent, cold fury and he shook his head angrily. "This ain't right."

Nancy just smiled and squeezed his arm for a moment. "Have a good one."

Bess timidly followed her friend out of the tiny house. "Bye."

As soon as they got in the car and headed home, Bess sighed in relief.

"Holy shit," was all she could think of to say.

When they got home, George was still yelling at her videogame character. They told her about the lead they got from Mr. Whittier at the jewelry store and then about their time at the Skeets' house.

"What?!" George yelled, jaw dropping. "Oh man. You went to Skeets house and you didn't tell me?!"

"You said you didn't want to go," Nancy shrugged.

"Actually, your exact words were, 'I'd rather wait for you right here while I kick some computerized ass on your Wii,'" Bess added smugly.

George glared at her. "I said I didn't want to go to some fagoty jewelry shop. You didn't tell me you were going to go to creepy Skeets' house. For future reference, the order, from most hated to best, is going clothes shopping with Bess," George said, putting her hand way down low and slowly getting higher, "shoe shopping with Bess, going to some tutty-fruity jewelry shop to fix a broken clasp, getting my head dunked in liquid nitrogen," she made a huge gap higher, "kicking computerized ass alone, going to see Nancy duke it out with some crazy old lady," she tiptoed and put her hand a fraction of an inch higher than the last statement, "kicking computerized ass against someone else."

Nancy laughed as Bess flicked her cousin off.

"Well, next time," Nancy promised, turning towards her night table as the phone rang. "Hello?"

"Hey gorgeous."

"Ned!"

Bess and George instantly began making kissy noises. Nancy gave them the finger and threw pillows at them.

"So, how is everything coming along?" Ned asked, a smile in his voice as if he knew what was going on.

"You mean about the weekend?" Nancy asked. "Everything is perfect."

"And did you…?"

"Not yet, but don't worry."

"I'm not worried. I have faith in you. If anyone can pull this off, it's you."

"We're driving up on Friday. I'm going to go straight to the Omega Chi Epsilon house, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, perfect. I was going to tell you to go there and settle in first," Ned responded. "Practice will probably go late."

"Oh God, Ned, I've got to tell you what happened today," Nancy said, grinning like a little girl. She told him about everything she had found out. Ned listened attentively. After she had finished telling him everything, she added, "I expect your help. After the game, of course."

"Of course," Ned repeated. "Actually, I may be able to help you sooner than you think."

"What is it? What is it!" Nancy asked, excitedly.

"Well, I don't know if I told you, but the drama club is putting on a play Friday night. It's some Shakespeare play or something like that. Anyway, they got some acting coach to come in from New York. It's some woman. And her last name is Smith Drew."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 08

"You've got to be kidding me!" Nancy exclaimed happily, clutching the phone to her ear desperately.

"What happened? What happened?" George demanded in a loud whisper.

Nancy waved at her to shut up and George spread her hands wide, looking over at Bess who shrugged and did the same as Nancy, leaning in to hear better. George sighed, giving up and scowled, folding her arms across her chest.

Ned laughed into the receiver. "I'm not kidding."

"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!" Nancy yelled in a very un-Nancy fashion. "Can you find out if her first name is Nancy?"

"Nancy?" George repeated. "Nancy the one you're looking for?"

"Shh!" both Nancy and Bess snapped, waving their arms at her again.

"Ah," George scoffed. "You guys are pricks."

"Now don't stop everything else in your life and pin everything on this one lead. I know how caught up you get in this stuff. Maybe I should've waited to tell you until _after_ you did what I asked you to do," Ned said.

"No, I'll do it, I promise," Nancy assured him. "Just… _please_ can you find out for me?"

"All right, I will. I'll see what I can find out and call you back."

"Yes! Oh my God, yes," Nancy exclaimed. "Find out if she's Nancy and then make her stay there until I come up. Become really close friends with her. Ooh! Seduce her to make sure she stays put!"

Ned laughed again. "I'll see what I can do. And I'm not too crazy about the seducing part. Nancy Drews, as it turns out, are pretty hard to seduce. In the end you kind of end up jumping through rings and almost getting killed a lot of the time."

"Shut up," Nancy said, but she laughed and blushed.

"Okay, I'll call you back," Ned said.

"Great." Nancy hung up the phone.

"_Now_ can I ask what the hell is going on?" George asked, throwing her hands up in the air.

"Yeah, you kept shushing us," Bess added.

"Excuse me?" George said, looking at her cousin.

"Shh, Nancy's telling us something."

"It turns out that the drama club hired and acting coach to come in from New York to help out with the Shakespeare play they're presenting on Friday-"

"Shakespeare?" George repeated with a delighted tone as Bess rolled her eyes and gagged. "Cool, I love-"

"Not the point," Nancy interrupted. "The coach is some woman and her last name is Smith Drew!"

"Awesome!" Bess said. "You think it's her?"

"I really do. Remember that Mr. Skeets said that she was studying to become an actress. Now I just need to wait until Ned calls back."

"Wow, I kind of wish I was going with you guys. It seems semi-interesting now," George said, turning on the game consol.

"So, why don't you come with us?" Nancy asked.

Bess, who knew of the plan with Ned, nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, come with us. It'll be fun."

"Still not worth the three and a half hour drive up to Emerson," George replied.

Nancy took the controllers from her friend's hand and held them away from her. "Come on, please. You'll have a great time. You can come with me to tell Nancy Smith Drew about the money. Plus, you said you loved Shakespeare. You can watch the play with us."

"Yeah, right," George scoffed, reaching for the controllers. "And what am I supposed to do the rest of the time while you two are off at some fancy evening dance making out with football players?"

"You can come to the dance with us," Bess said, blocking her cousin's way to the game.

"Without a date? I'm not that pathetic. No thanks, guys, I'll stay home."

"Then you're in luck!" Bess exclaimed.

"What?"

"Yeah, we have a date for you," Nancy said as if she was presenting her friend with a present. "Isn't that great? Now you can come with us. Yay!"

"You have a what now for who?" George asked, staring at her friend.

"A date," Bess drawled out. "As in a real live human male that will escort you to the dance and be forced to sit beside you and get you punch."

"Look, it's a friend of Ned's who didn't have a date either and we thought that-"

"A blind date?" George said, disgusted. "God! That's even worse than having no date at all!"

"What? How is that worse?" Nancy asked.

"Because! Because. It means I am _so_ pathetic that I can't even find a regular guy to go with in the first place and a resort to having to be fixed up with some loser retard that is just as or more pathetic than I am. No way in hell."

"Come on, please?" Nancy begged. "Ned asked me to ask you for his friend. Do it for me. For Ned? Come on, I can't just tell him no, he'll be crushed."

George stared at her for a second and then sagged angrily. "Goddamn you, Nancy Drew. Goddamn each and every single Nancy Drew alive! And all the Ned Nickerson's too!"

"Is that a yes?" Bess squealed happily.

"Fine," George consented bitterly. "But I will let you know right now that I am _so_ not happy about this and I will make it ten times more apparent when I go on this shitty date that I didn't want to do this. And you guys owe me. You owe me so freaking big!"

"Yes, I owe you. I love you. You're the best," Nancy said, kissing her best friend's cheek enthusiastically.

George sulked as she was handed back the game controllers and began playing unhappily. Her face lit up. "Oh wait! I have nothing to wear to a formal gala dance piece of crap. Oh no. So sorry. Can't go. Gonna have to find another date."

"That's okay," Bess said. "You and I can go shopping for one and Hannah will alter it for you."

George whimpered. "No… no! Clothes shopping… with Bess… Do you not remember my list? All the way down here." George ground the heel of her hand into the floor to emphasize her point. "Already this is the worst mistake of my life."

"Stop being a baby," Bess said, flipping open and magazine and perching herself comfortably on Nancy's bed.

The phone rang and Nancy leapt for it.

"Ned?" she said hopefully.

"Hey," he said, a little less excited. "I didn't learn much. I couldn't find out her first name. Turns out that whoever she is, something important came up and she had to leave urgently for a while. She won't be back until Friday just before the show. But I'm sure you can talk to her then. It's only two days away."

"Damn," Nancy said, deflated. "I was hoping it was her."

"I know, me too," Ned told her. "But hey, want some cheering up?"

"Sure."

"Guess who substitute acting coach is for the time being?"

"Who?"

"Burt. Eddleton."

They both cracked up at the thought of it and when Nancy caught her breath again she asked, "How did that happen?"

"Well, it happened a couple of months ago. We were kind of drunk and Burt said that he needed another extracurricular activity for some reason I don't remember. Anyway, we dared him to join the drama club and he stupidly took the dare. Turns out that the drama club is a bunch of girls who are head-over-heels in love with him and they thought that the greatest honor they could give him was to let him coach the Shakespeare play." The couple laughed again. Ned added, "Whatever, he managed to drag Dave down with him, so..."

"Nice. Maybe Burt has a secret and passionate aspiration to be an actor," Nancy suggested.

"I highly doubt it."

"Oh, by the way, I did what you asked," Nancy said and George glared at her from her position in front of the TV set.

"You did? And?"

"Yeah, she's coming."

"Great! I knew I could count on you. Anyway, I got to go. I'll see you on Friday."

"Yeah. Bye."

Nancy sat on her bed, chewing idly on her fingernail for a while, a distant look on her face. After a minute or two, Bess noticed and lowered her magazine.

"What are you thinking about, Nance?" she asked.

Nancy, still not looking away from her unfocused point gave a small shrug. "This whole Nancy Drew thing."

"What about it? You found her, right?" George chimed in, playing her game.

"Maybe, I don't know," Nancy replied. There was another long pause as Nancy bit her lip and thought. "I think I need to find the Wilson family."

"The who now what?" George asked.

"You mean the same Wilson family that Nancy Smith Drew went to work for?" Bess said, the idea clicking. "Why?"

"Because, if that coach Smith Drew at Emerson _isn't_ Nancy Smith Drew, then this woman might be. I need to find them and see if they know where she is. Just in case," Nancy said with a nod.

"Or you could just wait until Friday," George put in. "But that would be too much to ask from super sleuth Nancy non-Smith Drew. How are you going to find them anyway? You don't even know where they live."

"I can try to call them. They might be in the phonebook."

"Again, you need to know what city and state they live in for you to find them in the phonebook. All you know is that they sometimes go to Cape Cod in the summer and that they have money."

"How do you know they have money?" Bess asked.

"Anyone who hires a fulltime nanny for their kid has money," George replied, cocking her head as if the answer was obvious.

"Well," her cousin said, sliding off the bed and smoothing out the creases of her long jean skirt. "As fascinating as it would be to sit here all day and watch you call every family in America with the last name Wilson, I only have two days to find George a kick-ass formal gown and have it fixed. So we will be going now."

"Uh, I think I'll stay here with Nancy and call," George said.

"Yeah. Right. Come on." George whimpered as her cousin pulled her up by the arm. Bess waved goodbye to Nancy. "See you later. We'll come back when we find the dress so Hannah can hem it."

"Kay," Nancy said, still thinking about how she was going to get in contact with the Wilsons.

After a few more minutes, she decided to go talk to Hannah. Usually when she was stumped or frustrated, talking to Hannah helped. The housekeeper had a clear head and gave good advice. Plus, Hannah wasn't sitting in the middle of whatever problem Nancy usually had, so she had a better look at the big picture. Hannah was in her room, putting the finishing touched on Nancy's dress. Nancy sat in the spare chair and began to update Hannah on everything that had happened. She ended with how she wanted to get into contact with the Wilsons and see what they could tell her about Nancy Smith Drew.

"But where do I start looking?" Nancy asked.******"Who vacations at Cape Cod? People in the Boston area usually, right?"**

**"****I guess," Hannah said with a shrug.**

**"****Where else? Springfield, Massachusetts?"**

**"****Didn't you say that Nancy Smith Drew was studying in New York, which is why you think that she is probably the coach as Emerson?" Hannah asked and Nancy nodded. "Well, then, isn't it very probable that the Wilsons also live in New York City?"**

**"****New York City! Of course! Hannah, you're a genius!"**

******Hannah laughed. "I put a New York phonebook in your father's study a couple of days ago."**

**"****An efficient genius at that," Nancy said, getting up and heading towards her father's study.**

******Nancy found the phonebook in the bottom drawer of her father's desk. She sat in the plush leather rolling chair and dragged the phone closer to her. She flipped open to the "W" section.**

**"****Goddamn," Nancy muttered under her breath.**

****

******There were dozens of Wilson's. She began to pick apart the list. The first thing she did was eliminate all of the business and professional numbers and addresses. After that she thought back to what George had said. If the Wilsons could afford a live-in nanny they had to be pretty well off. She was pretty familiar with New York City because her aunt lived up there, so she picked out all the names that were in the better areas of the city. The list was pretty long and if she had been less determined, she would've given up right then and there. But she set her jaw, took in a deep breath and dialed the first number.**

******Nancy called number after number, but to no avail. She sat there for about an hour, scratching numbers off her list. The door to the study opened suddenly and George walked in with an exasperated look on her face. She plopped into one of the comfortable leather lounge chairs that were positioned in front of the desk with a sigh. Nancy grinned at her friend.**

**"****Had fun shopping?" Nancy asked.**

******George raised her middle finger without lifting her head.**

**"****What happened? Found a dress?"**

**"****Yeah," George said. "Did I mention that I ****__****hate******** shopping? Especially with Bess."**

**"****I think I heard something like that. Where is Bess?"**

**"****She said she had to go talk to Hannah about alterations or something like that," George said, rolling her eyes. She sat up and looked over the list in front of Nancy. "What's that?"**

******The redhead looked down with a sigh and explained what she was doing.**

**"****Wow," George said when she was done, raising her eyebrows. "Your phone bill is going to be huge this month."**

**"****Not really," Nancy said. "My dad had an extended long distance service plan because he makes out of state calls all the time."**

**"****There you are, you disappeared," Bess said, coming into the room.**

**"****Oh hey. I heard you found a dress," Nancy said.**

**"****Yeah, but there might have been a better one. We'll never know because George forced me out of the mall."**

**"****We were there for like 3 hours looking at dresses that all looked the same," George retorted.**

**"****They did not all look the same. I'm just saying that we didn't exhaust every option."**

**"****Yeah, well, we exhausted all the options we were going to exhaust."**

******Bess rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Come on, Hannah's waiting for you to try it on upstairs."**

******George whimpered as Bess dragged her away. "Again? I already tried it on once."**

******Nancy laughed and then turned back to her task. She dialed the next number. A woman picked up the phone.**

**"****Hello?" she said and Nancy caught her breath as she detected a British accent. She thought back to Sailor Joe saying that the family was English.**

**"****Hi, is this Mrs. Wilson?" Nancy asked.**

**"****This is she. Can I help you with something?"**

**"****Yeah, um, actually you can. I'm calling you long distance to ask you something. Did you ever hire a nanny by the name of Nancy Drew? Nancy Smith Drew?"**

****

******There was a long pause on the other line.**

**"****Who is this?"**


	9. Chapter 9

******Chapter 09**

******Nancy gave a little laugh. "Believe it or not, my name is also Nancy Drew. I got a letter that was supposed to be for her by mistake."**

**"****These are the things that happen in a small world," Mrs. Wilson said. "Actually, yes, Miss Nancy did work for us a couple of years ago. She was a very nice woman."**

**"****Oh my God!" Nancy said excitedly. "I'm so thrilled that I finally found someone who knows where she is."**

**"****Actually, I'm not sure where she is right now. She left us to pursue her career. Great actress. She was studying for the stage. She sends us a letter every once in a while and every Christmas she sends us a holiday card."**

**"****Shoot," Nancy said. "Well, let me at least tell you what was in the letter that I got in case you get in touch with her before I do. She has an inheritance waiting for her in England. I have a copy of the letter; the original got destroyed in an accident. If you don't mind, can you take down my number and address so that you can pass it on to Miss Drew if you hear from her?"**

**"****Sure, of course," Mrs. Wilson said, taking down Nancy's information. "I'm so glad that she came into some money. She was a very kind person and she deserved something good like that to happen. I'm sure that we'll be hearing from her around Christmastime, so I'll tell her to contact you right away."**

**"****Thanks so much, Mrs. Wilson," Nancy said happily. "It's been a pleasure talking with you."**

**"****Likewise."**

******Nancy headed back upstairs and ran into Hannah's room, flushed and excited. George and Bess were sitting on the bed, chatting with the housekeeper and Hannah had what Nancy assumed to be George's dress in her hands. Nancy told them what she had accomplished and they all congratulated her.**

**"****So if the coach at Emerson isn't Nancy Smith Drew," Hannah said, "by Christmastime, you should be hearing from the right one. Bravo, Nancy, well done."**

**"****Thank you, thank you," Nancy said, giving a few dramatized bows.**

**"****Now that you're here, try on your dress to make sure that it's the right length."**

**"****Right."**

******Nancy undressed and slipped into the formal gown. Just as she was finished zipping the dress up, the phone rang.**

**"****I got it," she said and headed out of the room.**

******She grabbed the phone in her room, careful not to stand on her hem, and picked up the phone.**

**"****Hello?"**

**"****Ah, the super sleuth herself," Chief McGinnis's voice sounded over the receiver. "How are you?"**

**"****I'm okay, you?"**

**"****Well, I thought you'd be interested to know that we found the hunk of junk with the license plate number TJ12796."**

**"****You did?!" Nancy yelled, happily clutching the receiver. "And did you find Edgar Nixon."**

****

**"****Nah, not yet."**

**"****And was it really his car?"**

**"****Not technically," McGinnis told her. "It was registered under another name with a fake address. Could've been his, could've been a friend's…"**

**"****Could've been stolen," Nancy put in darkly, "Which I wouldn't put past the guy."**

**"****Me either from what you tell me."**

**"****Where did you find the car?"**

**"****You know the old bridge, all dilapidated, on the west side of town? Right past there. It looks like he took the turn too fast and rolled into a ditch. He couldn't have been too hurt because there haven't been any reports from the hospitals or any of the local doctors. However, we're still on the lookout for a guy in a yellow leather jacket. Although, me and some of the guys were thinking that he might have changed into something else by this time."**

**"****Maybe," Nancy said, doubt in her voice. "But, if he was driving around a piece of crap car and demanding money from an old man, he can't be doing to good financially and men's winter overcoats are expensive. He probably doesn't have enough money to buy two."**

**"****I like the way your mind ticks, Nancy," McGinnis said with a smile in his voice. "Just like your old man. I'll call you if I find anything else out. Say hi to Carson for me."**

**"****Will do. Talk to you later."**

******Nancy was just heading back to Hannah's room when the doorbell rang.**

**"****What is this, check-in-with-Nancy day?" she muttered to herself. Then, calling out to the other girls, she yelled, "I got it!"**

******She reached the stairs, but she forgot that she was barefoot and that the dress was long. She stepped on the front of the dress just as she was nearing the bottom of the stairs and pitched forwards. Making a wild grab for the banister, she swung around and caught herself. From somewhere below there came a loud rip. Nancy steadied herself shakily and then managed to get to the bottom of the stairs.**

**"****Oh, shit!" she exclaimed as she found a huge rip on the side of the dress, on her right thigh. "Shit, shit, shit! How could I be so stupid? God, I hope Hannah can fix it."**

******She reached the front door and swung it open. She gave a smile.**

**"****Hey Tommy," she said, patting the kid's head. "What are you doing around here?"**

******The seven-year-old adjusted his grip on his bike, propping it up against the porch. He kept one hand behind his back.**

**"****I came to give you something," Tommy replied.**

**"****What is it?"**

**"****My friend Billy Dreskin that lives down the street says he saw this fall out of that mail-guy's yellow car," Tommy pulled his hand out from behind his back and revealed a tattered shoe. "The guy was probably a big pig if he has old shoes in his car." Nancy laughed as the little boy wrinkled his nose and handed over the shoe to her. "I promised Billy some candy if he gave it to me. Do you have any candy?"**

**"****Yeah, want to come in?" Nancy asked.**

**"****Nah, I'll stay out here. Someone might steal my bike."**

**"****Sure."**

****

******Nancy went into the kitchen and searched in the pantry until she found a big bag of gummy bears that Bess had influenced her to buy a few weeks ago. She scooped a large handful into one Ziploc and another into a second. She came back out to the front door and handed both bags over to the boy.**

**"****One for Billy," she said, giving him the first. "One for you."**

**"****Really? A whole bag for me?" Tommy asked, eyes widening.**

**"****Yup. You were a big help. Thanks, kiddo," she said, ruffling his hair again.**

**"****You're my favorite neighbor, Nancy," Tommy declared as he grabbed his bike and zoomed down the driveway. "HEY BILLY! CHECK IT OUT!"**

******Nancy laughed as she watched the kid ride away down the street and then her face fell as she remembered her dress. She put the shoe aside and examined the rip. She cursed under her breath again and went upstairs. She walked into Hannah's room with a sheepish face. The housekeeper gave her a look.**

**"****What did you do?" Hannah asked.**

**"****I kind of had an accident," Nancy said.**

******Bess gasped, George took in a sharp breath and wrinkled her nose, and Hannah sighed and shook her head. Nancy pouted apologetically.**

**"****I'm sorry. Can you fix it?"**

******Hannah put George's dress down for a second and examined the rip. She looked up at the girl.**

**"****Fortunately it's near a seam. I can put in a new one. You might, have a little trouble walking because the skirt will be narrow, but that's what you get," Hannah said. "Put on your heels and make sure the length is right first."**

******Nancy did as she was told, saw that the length was perfect, and then got back into her jeans and blouse. Hannah started in on the new seam. Nancy turned to the girls.**

**"****You going to stay for dinner?" she asked.**

**"****Can't," George answered. "My mother's on a tirade about how we never eat as a family anymore and yadda, yadda. She ****__****planned******** a sit down family dinner today. That's going to be nice and awkward."**

**"****Why?" Nancy laughed.**

**"****Have you ever been to my house?"**

**"****Yeah. Hectic and a little crazy, maybe, but why awkward?"**

**"****Awkward because it'll be a whole lot of me and my dad saying nothing in an attempt not to blow up and tell everyone off, a whole lot of my brother making fun of the things my mom says, and a whole lot of my mother alternating violently between wholesome, stereotypical, 50's-style family conversations with herself, and blind rage and frustration because no one else will participate in her discussions of unimportant crap."**

**"****Oookay," Nancy said, raising her brows. She turned to the blond. "And you?"**

**"****Nope. I have to wash my hair and all that, so I'm just going to go home."**

**"****Alright, I've got to get dinner started. If any one of you wants to help…?"**

**"****I'm out of here."**

**"****Later."**

******Nancy watched as they walked out. "Jerks!" she yelled after them playfully.**

******She headed down to the kitchen and saw the steaks that Hannah had defrosting on the counter. She made a salad of cottage cheese and tomatoes, mashed some potatoes. By **

******the time she was done mashing the potatoes, Hannah had come down stairs and began to set the table. She got the frying pan ready for the steaks, then, after a moment's hesitation, she threw the first into the pan.**

**"****Aren't you going to wait for-" Nancy began.**

**"****I'm home," Carson Drew called from the front door, wiping his feet on the entrance mat.**

******Nancy gave the housekeeper a sly look. "You're good."**

******Hannah just smiled craftily and flipped her steak. Nancy walked out to greet her father. She kissed his cheek and took his coat for him.**

**"****Dinner ready?" Mr. Drew asked.**

**"****Almost," Hannah called back. "E.T.A. 10 minutes."**

**"****Good. Come with me, sweetheart."**

******Nancy followed her father into his study and sat in one of the chairs across from his desk. Carson took a seat and idly straightened the items before him.**

**"****You have news," Nancy said.**

******Mr. Drew gave a self-mocking laugh. "You know me to well. Maybe you can make sense of it, Nancy; you have a good head on your shoulders. I can't. I got a call this afternoon from Mr. Bates-Jones's secretary. She says that you and I have been discharged."**

**"****Discharged?" Nancy said, furrowing her brow. "From what?"**

**"****From trying to find Nancy Smith Drew. According to Ms. Gordon, Mr. Bates-Jones says that we can stop looking, he doesn't want us to waste our time and energy on it."**

**"****They found her?"**

**"****That's the thing," Carson replied, shaking his head, frustrated. "They didn't say that she was found. They just said that someone was going to put them in contact with Miss Drew and that we didn't have to worry anymore."**

**"****That was it? She didn't say anymore. What a douche bag Bates-Jones is. Can't even give us details or anything after all we did for him. We totally went out of our way to help him out," Nancy said, put off.**

**"****Well, the secretary didn't seem like the world's next budding genius. It kind of sounded like Bates-Jones gave her that message and left or something. Maybe he'll send me a letter or an e-mail that explains a little more."**

******Nancy was still unsatisfied. "I don't like this."**

**"****I know," her father sighed, getting up and kissing the top of his daughter's head. "But… what are you going to do?"**

**"****Dinner's ready!" Hannah called.**

******They sat at the table and served themselves. Nancy was still mulling over what her father had told her.**

**"****I really don't like it, dad," Nancy said again. "Something's wrong."**

**"****Wrong with what?" Hannah asked.**

**"****Mr. Bates-Jones threw us off the Nancy Smith Drew hunt way too suddenly," Nancy said, half to Hannah, half to her father.**

**"****What're you thinking?" Mr. Drew asked, taking a bite of steak and potatoes.**

**"****I think that there might be someone posing as Nancy Smith Drew."**

**"****How'd you get there?"**

****

**"****Well, think about it. Who knows about the Nancy Smith Drew letter? Us," Nancy said, motioning towards those at the table. "Bess and George. Ned. I doubt that any of the others would've called Bates-Jones to put him in touch with Nancy Smith Drew. The only other person who could've ****__****possibly******** found out about the letter was the person who stole the mail from our house. Maybe Edgar Nixon…**

**"****When I found the letter in the trash, all washed out, I thought it had gotten ruined and Nixon had thrown it away. But what if he read it first? What if he read the whole letter, found out about the inheritance, and then threw it out? What if he's trying to get his hands on that inheritance money? That would explain the pin!"**

**"****What pin?" Hannah asked.**

******Nancy told her family about what Mr. Whittier, the jeweler had told her. She also explained how and why she thought that the man who bought the pin was Edgar Nixon.**

**"****It all makes sense now. The pin wasn't for me," Nancy said, piecing the puzzle together. "It was for Nancy ****__****Smith******** Drew."**

******Carson Drew chewed slowly as he mulled over his daughter's words. "You might be on to something, kid. But this is all just an assumption. Look, I'm going to call Bates-Jones tomorrow and ask for some more information."**

**"****Can I be there when you call? I want to hear what he says," Nancy pleaded, a puppy-dog look on her face.**

******Mr. Drew laughed. "Sure thing, kiddo. I'll call from my study before I go to the office. Sound good?"**

**"****Perfect. Thanks, dad."**

******The next morning, after an early breakfast, Nancy and Mr. Drew locked themselves in his study and put in an overseas call to the lawyer. It took a couple of minutes before the call finally went through and a few more minutes to deal with the not-so-bright secretary. Finally, Mr. Bates-Jones came onto the phone and spoke to them directly.**

**"****Actually, Mr. Bates-Jones," Mr. Drew said after all the pleasantries had been given. "My daughter and I don't want to go against your wishes, but we were interested in finding out if Miss Drew had been located. We had a few pretty good leads as to where she was ourselves, so the call from your secretary came as a surprise."**

**"****We truly appreciate your interest and all the time and effort that you have put into this," Mr. Bates-Jones responded over the speakerphone, "but we have actually been in contact with an American agency that offered to put us into contact with the heiress."**

**"****You called them and hired them?" Carson asked, dubiously.**

**"****Well, no, actually, they came to us."**

**"****Can I ask one question? How did they know that you were looking for Miss Drew?"**

******There was an extended pause on the other line and then a slightly startled British voice said, "I'm not quite sure, actually." Then it sounded as if he shook his head clear of doubts and responded again, rather firmly, "But we have no reason to doubt the integrity of this agency."**

**"****Perhaps I can help you. I can look into this detective agency to make sure that everything is running to code. I really believe that a thorough investigation would highly be to your advantage."**

****

******Another long pause, and then, "Well, I really don't think that I should divulge the name of the company."**

******Father and daughter looked at each other. This guy was weaseling them out of the picture!**

******The lawyer in Mr. Drew took over and he said, "It is your decision, Mr. Bates-Jones, we were merely trying to be of service. But, to be frank, my daughter and I don't trust this. We have very strong suspicious that something is wrong here and I beg of you, do not part with any money until you check this agency out. Please, take my advice."**

******There was an audible intake of breath and the English lawyer muttered something under his breath. Finally, he said, "Thank you for the advice, Mr. Drew, I will keep it in mind. I am going to speak to my partner about this case and I will let you know of the results."**

**"****Fair enough, and good luck, sir," Carson replied, civilly.**

**"****And same to you. Thank you again for your trouble."**

******Mr. Drew hung up the phone and looked at Nancy with a shrug. "Well, sweetheart. That's that. I guess that's all we can do. I really have to go. I need to prepare for court this afternoon. I'll see you later. Take care and don't get into too much trouble."**

**"****Bye, dad," Nancy said, receiving the kiss on the forehead with a small smile.**

******She shifted from the edge of his desk to one of the large, plush chairs and sank into it, thinking for a good long time. What now? She had those two good leads, she couldn't just give those up. Well, she had already done what she could on the Wilson side of the issue, but she was going up to Emerson anyway. If that was the Nancy Smith Drew Bates-Jones was looking for, it wouldn't hurt to talk to her. But she might as well put the rest out of her mind.**

******And idea struck her suddenly. She might not be able to do anything for the Nancy Smith Drew case, but she could still try to find Edgar Nixon. Besides, it was very possible that he had stolen her father's certified mail with the money in it. She grinned to herself.**

******Yes, she could find Edgar Nixon. And she would.**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Nancy jolted as the phone rang suddenly. She leaned forward across her father's desk and answered it on the third ring.

"Hello?"

"Nancy, dear?" Ira's frail voice said over the speaker.

"Ira," Nancy said, happy to hear the old man's voice. "How are you feeling?"

There was a shaky sigh. "I'm here."

"Is something wrong? Are you okay?"

There was a pause as Ira ignored her question totally and said nervously, "My dear, do you mind coming over? I'd really like to speak to you."

"Of course not. I'll be right there," Nancy promised and hung up the phone.

She found Hannah in the kitchen and told her that she was going to Ira's house.

"Poor man, I hope he's all right," Hannah said. "I made some vegetable soup for lunch, but do you mind…?"

Nancy smiled. "I'll have a sandwich."

"Thank you, sweetie." Hannah ladled some soup into a Tupperware and handed it to Nancy. "Make sure he eats it. He forgets sometimes. Oh and, do me a favor and get this shoe out of here. I don't like it in the house."

Nancy took the shoe from the housekeeper with a grin. "I'll drop it off with McGinnis. Maybe he can find something on it. See you, Hannah."

Nancy pulled her leather coat on and stepped into the cold morning air. She loved the end of autumn. She got into her car and turned up the heater, taking a minute to let the engine warm up and then headed towards Ira's house.

When she knocked on the door, a frail voice called out, "Come on in."

Ira Nixon was sitting in a rocking chair, bundled up in front of a roaring fireplace. He smiled weakly back at Nancy as he greeted her.

"I was cold. One of my neighbors came over and built up the fireplace for me," he explained as Nancy went to the kitchen to serve him some of the soup Hannah had made.

He waited until Nancy had set the fold away table in front of him and handed him the hot broth to speak again.

"Thank you, my girl," he said, sipping at it, color coming into his cheeks. "Everyone'd been so nice to me… except for my brother."

Nancy raised her brows, but said nothing, letting the old man finish.

"Every time he came over he would give me orders and tell me how I should be doing this and which way to run my life."

"Was he here?" Nancy asked, trying to figure out a tactful way of figuring out if Edgar had come to demand money from his sickly older brother.

"Yes, he was, which is why I called you," the mail-carrier said. "It's a long and complicated story, but basically I am entitled to an inheritance that Edgar isn't. He has always claimed that I had to give him some of that money and usually he mentions this every time he comes, but not this time." Ira put his spoon down and stared intently at the redhead before him. "Nancy, that boy had nothing to do with the theft of my mail. I'm positive."

Nancy was taken aback at the sudden comment. She looked over the old man. He had obviously been obsessing over this thought and he had worried himself into an anxious state. He was pale and worried-looking. But he seemed eager, almost desperate, to make Nancy believe that his half-brother was innocent.

"How do you know?" Nancy said, in a non-committal tone.

"He was here about an hour ago. I tried to call you earlier, but your phone was busy. He was very nice to me. He was as sympathetic as you are, I promise. The first thing he said to me was that he rushed over as soon as he heard about my problems and he wanted to help. In fact, he said that he wanted to hire a private detective for me to find out what happened to the letters. Isn't that great?"

"He hired a private detective?" Nancy repeated. "Isn't that expensive. From what you're telling me, he doesn't seem to have that kind of money."

Ira shrugged into himself a little. "Well, truthfully, he said he wanted to hire a detective, but that some cash would help. But, just the fact that he's thinking of ways to solve my problem proves that he didn't do it, right?"

Nancy evaded the question. "You gave him money for a detective?"

"I told him I didn't have anything on hand. He suggested that I take part of my inheritance and put it to good use."

"You received all of your inheritance already?"

"Not a dime. That's what I told him. Edgar was in a very good mood today. He came in and sat with me for a while. He even mentioned a girlfriend."

A jolt of electricity ran through Nancy from head to toe. "A girlfriend? Did he mention her name?"

Ira shrugged and shook his head. "No. He'd never said anything about her at all before. It must have been going on for quite a while because he said that he was marrying her soon. From what he mentioned, I understood that the lady was quite wealthy."

The second jolt of electricity left Nancy feeling numb. "Did he say when?" Ira shook his head and then the girl asked, "Did he meet her at work maybe? If he works?"

"We never really spoke about his affairs. When he came today, he was all dressed up in those flashy clothes of his and he had a new car. One of those shiny, red hotrods that are in style nowadays. He always managed to keep a car, so I figured he was employed."

Nancy shifted in her seat. "Do you mind telling me where he lives?"

"No, no, of course not," Ira said, still obviously desperate for Nancy to believe that his brother wasn't lying. He pulled a paper out from his pocket and showed it to her. "That was no secret at all. He boards at a house up in Ridgefield with a woman named Mrs. Hemmer."

Nancy memorized the address, then smiling kindly, she said, "I've got to get going, Ira. Feel better, okay?"

"I'll try," the man said, thinking that Nancy had mentally cleared Edgar and now much more at ease. "And thank you for coming. Tell Hannah that the soup was marvelous."

"Will do. Bye Ira."

Nancy walked out the door and shut herself in her car as it heated.

"Holy shit," she murmured.

Ira's words still ringing in her ear, Nancy drove to the police station and got down. The officer at the counter waved at her as she headed back towards the chief's office. She knocked and opened the door, poking her head in.

"Bad time?" she asked, grinning at the burly cop behind the desk.

McGinnis gave her a grin, revealing the small chip at the corner of his front left tooth. He was a big man, tall and wide and intimidating if you didn't know him. He had moved from New York City to River Heights years ago to escape the gruesomeness of big city life. The skills and habits he'd formed as an officer in the Big City had helped to clean up the sleepy police force down in River Heights.

"For you?" he asked with his thick, brusque accent. "Never."

"I brought you something," Nancy teased with a smirk.

McGinnis gave a fake gasp. "You bought me a Barbie Playhouse. How did you know?"

Nancy laughed and reached into her bag for the shoe and handed it over to the officer. He took it and looked at it as if he was receiving a diamond.

"Oh, and it's smelly, too. Aw, you do care," McGinnis said sarcastically. The he sobered, "Whose is it?"

"It fell out of what we assume to be Edgar Nixon's old car," Nancy explained. "Billy Dreskin found it and his friend Tommy gave it to me. I also…" she paused as she rummaged for something in her wallet, "…have a picture. That's Edgar Nixon."

McGinnis took it without a word and rolled around to the copier behind him. He took out the color copy, put it on his desk amongst a gaggle of other pictures and papers and scribbled the name onto it. Nancy stood, picture in hand, frozen and thinking. McGinnis gave her a look.

"Was that all you wanted to give me?" McGinnis asked.

"Yeah," Nancy replied with a long, drawn out and distracted sigh.

McGinnis motioned towards one of the hard plastic chairs opposite him. "Nah, there's more. Cop a squat, girly, and vent." Nancy gave a little laugh and sat. McGinnis knew her well. He nodded her on. "What's on your mind?"

"A lot of things. It's actually really complicated," Nancy said.

"I'm here to help."

There was a long pause and then Nancy looked into the deep brown eyes across from her and asked, "Is there any legal way to prevent a marriage?"

McGinnis wrinkled his brow as he thought. "If one of the people involved was still legally married… um, if someone was underage and didn't have parental consent. Other than that… not really."

Nancy nodded slowly as she mulled this over. McGinnis looked at her again, not pushing her.

"That it?" he asked.

Nancy sighed again and nodded. "For now. Call me if anything turns up, okay?"

"Will do, kiddo," McGinnis promised as she left.


	11. Chapter 11

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I know that this chapter is a lot shorter than the previous ones and i want to apologize to a certain individual (you know who you are;)...) in advance. Sorry, man, I know it's short but I had to! It wouldn't work any other way!! On a more general note: Please, please, PLEASE!! Read and review. I appreciate it.

Chapter 11

Nancy pulled her phone out of her pocket as she exited the police station and hit speed dial 5.

"Yo," George answered on the other line.

"You at home?" Nancy asked.

"Yeah, why? What are you up to?"

"Just came from the police station again."

"Caught you whoring again, huh?" George remarked casually.

"Shut up," Nancy retorted with a laugh. "How was dinner last night?"

"Awkward," George responded. "It was a whole lot of me and my dad saying nothing in an attempt not to blow up and tell everyone off, a whole lot of my brother making fun of the things my mom says, and a whole lot of my mother alternating violently between wholesome, stereotypical, 50's-style family conversations with herself, and blind rage and frustration because no one else will participate in her discussions of unimportant crap."

Nancy laughed again. "You want to make a little trip up to Ridgefield?"

"What for?"

"The short answer is that it has to do with Edgar Nixon."

"I'm in. What about Edgar Nixon?"

"It's a long story. I'll tell you on the way up."

"Fine," George pouted. "Why don't we go in my Jeep? It's got snow tires and it's safer than the Porsche. Weather Channel said it was snowing up by there. You going to tell Bess?"

"Yeah."

"Tell her not to be a pussy," the brunette said and hung up.

Nancy scoffed at the cousin rivalry and held down speed dial 6. Bess picked up much more civilly.

"Hi Nance," she chirped.

"Want to go to Ridgefield?"

"Ridgefield? What's in Ridgefield other than a bunch of snow?" Bess asked.

"Edgar Nixon. Maybe. You want to come? George is coming along," Nancy said, not planning to mention her parting words.

But she didn't have to. She heard Bess sigh exasperatedly. "You told her that you were going to call me?"

"Yeah."

"Tell her that I'm going and that I am _not_ a pussy. I'll be ready in half an hour."

"Whatever," Nancy laughed. "Later."

Nancy got home, just managed to defrost when she heard a honk. She grabbed her coat and her bag and rushed into George's Jeep. She had the heater on full and the music loud.

"Bess ready?" George yelled over the music instead of lowering it.

"She should be," Nancy replied and sat back as George roared over to her cousin's house.

She pulled into the driveway and honked. Nothing happened. She honked again, but Bess still didn't appear. Finally, George held down the horn for a good 30 seconds straight, but Bess still didn't show up. George sighed and fidgeted, exasperated.

"Damn you, Bess," George muttered, lowering the music. "She's probably fixing her dumbass hair."

"I didn't know Bess had ass hair," Nancy said, sending George into a laughing fit.

Bess emerged at last, glaring at her cousin through the windshield and hopped into the backseat. George roared onto the highway and headed for Ridgefield.

"What the hell took you so long?" George asked.

"I was on the phone with Dave," Bess said, a slightly dreamy tone in her voice.

"Dave Evans?" Nancy asked.

"That's why you kept us waiting? Because you were having phone sex with that football player?" George accused, outraged.

"I was not having phone sex. Dave actually called with a message," Bess said, smacking her cousin. "For Nancy."

"For me?" Nancy said, surprised.

"Yeah, for you. From Ned. Ned tried calling you, but you weren't home and you weren't answering your phone. And then he had to go take a test in one of his classes, so he wasn't going to be able to talk to you until a lot later, so he asked Dave to call. Anyway, the point is, remember that coach? The one whose last name is Smith Drew?"

"Yeah, yeah," Nancy said excited, turning around in her seat and to look at the blond, who smiled enticingly.

"Dave was told to call and tell you that her first name _is_ Nancy. You found her!"

"Ah! God, that's so great," Nancy exclaimed, jumping in her seat.

"So what's with this trip to Ridgefield? What does Edgar Nixon have to do with it?" George asked.

"But I wasn't-" Bess started.

"But I wha... huh… not caring," George interrupted. "Spill it Nancy."

Nancy told the girls everything that had happened since they had left yesterday. She told them about her talk with Mrs. Wilson, about how Bates-Jones had blown her and her father off, about the suspicions that she and Mr. Drew shared, about how Tommy had come over with a shoe, then she told them Ira's tale in detail, and about her meeting with Chief McGinnis. To finalize, she brought out a sheet of paper with an address, saying that this was where Edgar Nixon lived.

"Oh God," Bess said, going pale.

"What?" Nancy asked, not too concerned. It had started snowing, slowly getting harder and harder as they entered the town of Ridgefield. Bess was a little paranoid and Nancy figured that she was worried about the snow and George's driving.

"What Dave told me," Bess said, bringing the girls around. "There was more about Nancy Smith Drew."

"What about her? Get it out already," George snapped impatiently.

"Hey, you were the one who cut me off in the first place," Bess retorted, annoyed.

"What about Nancy Smith Drew?!" Nancy practically yelled.

"They found out where it was she went in such a hurry…" Bess said melodramatically.

Nancy's gut dropped and she had a strong feeling the she wasn't going to like what was coming.

"Nancy Smith Drew went to Ridgefield."

There was a thick and loaded silence as all three girls thought through the possibilities of what this could mean. Nancy took in a deep breath and prepared herself mentally.

No. She didn't like what was coming at all.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"I think that this is the only wedding I am ever going to _want_ to break up," Bess remarked. "Except for when J. Lo married Marc Anthony, but that was just for fear that the universe would implode at the union of the world's two greatest evils."

Nancy and George snickered.

"Maybe we're wrong," Bess put in. "Maybe… maybe Nancy Smith Drew found out about the stolen letter and went to go get it in Ridgefield."

"That doesn't cover it," George said. "First of all, with all these people trying to find her to _tell_ her about the damned letter, how did she magically know about it?"

"Worth a shot," Bess murmured. She turned to Nancy. "You think Edgar is going to marry Nancy Smith Drew?"

"I think he intends to do more than that," Nancy replied, biting her lip. "I think he intends to keep her inheritance a secret from her. I think he intends to marry her. And I think he intends to steal that money and use it for himself."

"Shit," George muttered. "We've got to stop that wedding."

The snow was deep and thick when they rode into Ridgefield. Nancy looked at the address again and they searched for Harrison Street. After a couple of minutes of Bess and George arguing which way to go, they found it. It was on the top of a hill and blocked off by a snowplow that had broken down. George parked at the bottom of the hill and the girls got out. They trudged up the slope, huddled inside their coats. George cursed.

"Dude, what the crap? Did this asshole have to live on the most difficult street ever or what?" she asked, pulling the collar of her thick, gray trench up around her neck.

"Don't make a scene," Nancy warned as they found number 22 and she rang the bell.

The door swung open, revealing a woman in her fifties that could be described as nothing more than ordinary looking. Nancy guessed that this was Mrs. Hemmer. She was obviously a little surprised to find the three snow-covered girls on her guesthouse porch.

"What can I do for you?" She spoke in a working-man's southern accent. "You lost or just cold?"

Nancy did her best to wipe the snow off her shoulders and hair. "We're good thanks. Is Edgar Nixon home?"

"Uh," Mrs. Hemmer glanced behind her shoulder for a second and then turned back to them. "No, not exactly."

"Mother…" Nancy heard George mutter and peter out.

"What did you need him for?" the woman asked.

"Do you know when he'll be back?" Nancy asked, evading the question.

Mrs. Hemmer hesitated. She looked the three girls up and down. "Why don't you come on inside? I'm freezing just standing in the door."

Nancy and the girls stamped the snow from their boots and took the lady up on her offer. She led them into a warm, comfortable living room that had a fire blazing in the hearth and plush sofas all around. Mrs. Hemmer invited them to sit. Nancy was waiting for an answer, but Mrs. Hemmer didn't supply it right away.

"So, what is it you need Nixon for?" she asked again, obviously not willing to drop the issue.

Nancy thought on her feet. "We're looking for our friend's brother for him."

"Oh," Hemmer said with a slight nod. "Well, the thing is, Nixon moved out this morning."

"What?" Nancy and Bess cried.

"Mother…" George muttered again.

"Did he tell you he was leaving before hand?" Nancy asked.

"Never even hinted it," Hemmer replied. "He always seemed really happy here. But then, I guess when you fall into big money you want to move out of a crappy boardinghouse and into your own fancy place."

Nancy could feel Bess and George's eyes boring holes into her back, but she ignored them. Trying to shake apprehensive goose bumps away, she tilted her head slightly as if she was a just bit interested.

"So, Edgar inherited some money?" Nancy said in a causal voice.

"Well, I don't know if he _inherited_ it," Hemmer said with a shrug. "But, he did say that he'd come into some big money. Said that with this type of money, he was gonna change his type of work."

"What did he do?" George asked.

"Not sure. Nixon was real private with his affairs. Maybe some kind of mail-order business? He did get a whole lot of mail. He must've done okay for himself, because he always paid his rent on time and he always had a car."

Nancy finally decided to ask the question that was nagging at the back of her brain. "Was he married?"

"Nixon?" Hemmer exclaimed. "He'd never even mentioned a girlfriend before."

Nancy and the others sighed, half in disappointment at having once again lost the trail of Nancy Smith Drew, and half in relief that Nixon wasn't married to her. But Hemmer wasn't done talking.

"That is… until yesterday. He came in pretty excited, smiling and all that. He said that he was getting married. Just like that, out of the blue. But I guess its better that he and I ain't that close. Boarder and super shouldn't be all that close, so I guess he wouldn't have mentioned a girl before. Although I'd never seen him with a woman."

"He must've been excited about it. You know, telling everyone. Did he happen to say who the girl was?" Nancy asked, pressed.

Hemmer shook her head. "Nope, but I'm guessing it was the woman who came by this morning." Nancy and the girls exchanged some looks, but Hemmer went on. "Truth is, I think it was pretty damn rude of Nixon to not even introduce the girl to me. I answered the door, was just about to ask her in and he came zooming down the stair, grabbed her hand, and said, 'Let's get out of here.'" Hemmer narrowed her eyes and looked over each girl. "Why? You looking for her too?"

Nancy gave a sweet and convincing smile. "Sort of, actually. Maybe. Depends on who the girl was. Do you remember what she looked like?"

"I didn't really look. Or, at least, I didn't really get a chance to look. Um, let's see… she was tall. And she was all wrapped up in an expensive-lookin' piece of fur. I'll tell you, if Nixon fell into big money, he's gonna have to use it to keep her up. She looked pricey, if you know what I mean. What, with the fur and the accent-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Nancy interrupted. "What accent?"

"One of them fancy British ones. You know, from England and the like? Spoke all fancy and snobbish." Hemmer looked them over again. "So was she the one you're looking for?"

"Oh yeah," Bess sighed from the couch. "She's the one."

Nancy was standing, looking hard at her feet. By this time, Nixon might've already married Nancy Smith Drew. What else could she do?

"Mrs. Hemmer?" Nancy said suddenly. "Since Edgar Nixon _is_ already moved out, do you think we could take a look in his room?"

Hemmer pressed her lips tightly and scrunched her nose. "Technically, I can't do that." A light shone suddenly in her eyes and she gave a little smile. "But, if, you know, you were interested in _renting_ the room and you wanted to see it... well, there wouldn't be a problem then."

"So how much is it per month?" George asked, leaping to her feet.

Hemmer grinned. "Right this way please."

She showed them to the first room on the right after climbing the stairs and left them after opening the door. Nancy, George, and Bess all looked around the room. They fanned out, opening drawers and looking in closets and under beds. They searched for about fifteen minutes, but there was nothing. The whole place was empty. Edgar did a pretty good job of cleaning the place out it seemed. There was a small knock and Hemmer poked her head in.

"Any luck?" she asked.

Nancy shook her head. "Nothing. But thanks for being so sweet and letting us-"

"Uh," Hemmer said, interrupting. "This brother you mentioned. Is his name Ira? Ira Nixon from River Heights?"

The girls were draw back. "Yeah, it is."

"Well, you see, I always ask that my tenants fill out an emergency contact card. In case of, you know…"

"Emergencies?" George supplied a little sarcastically.

"Right, exactly. Anyway, Nixon only put one and that was his brother, Ira. Well, the thing is that this morning, out of force of habit, I signed for some registered letters after Nixon left and I realized that I didn't know where to send them. I called his brother in River Heights, told him what happened about the letters, and said that you were here. He says that I can give you the letters and that you'll deliver them to him. Now, if you can just prove that you actually are Nancy Drew from River Heights…"

Nancy eagerly reached into her bag and pulled her license from her wallet. She handed it to the lady and Hemmer looked it over before smiling.

"I guess you can take these now."

Nancy looked over the bunch of letters in awe, then smiled like a little school girl at the guesthouse owner.

"Thanks. Thank you so much," she said happily.

"No problem, doll. And I hope that you find Nixon real soon."

"Thanks again," Nancy said as they left.

"This close!" George exclaimed as they stepped onto the street. "We are always _this_ close when we lose her. And him. Shit."

"What now, Nance?" Bess asked.

Nancy glanced back, up the hill. "The Town Hall is just two blocks up. I want to stop by and see if maybe Edgar took out a marriage license. You girls up for it?"

"Totally," George replied, gung ho.

"I guess," Bess said, much less enthused.

The three of them trudged up the hill, some more miserably than others and they reached the clean, well kept little building after about ten minutes. Nancy went inside and asked the clerk if any marriage license had been issued to an Edgar Nixon and a Nancy Smith Drew.

The clerk typed something on his computer and then shook his head. "Sorry, kids. Nothing here. They friends of yours that eloped or something?"

"Yeah," George jumped. "We're pretty pissed. We were supposed to be bridesmaid and they totally screwed us out of it. What assholes, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess," the clerk said, raising his brows and nodding as if George were crazy.

Nancy pushed George back from the counter and smiled, a little annoyed. "Is there a justice of the peace in this town?"

"Yeah. Suite 204, right up the stairs."

"Thanks."

The justice of the peace had no better luck.

"Haven't married anyone for a month," he said. "If you're really desperate, you can call the two clergymen we have in town. I can give you their numbers."

"You were a great help, thanks," Nancy said, taking the paper and heading back outside with her friends.

Once she was outside and they were walking back, Nancy dialed the numbers on her cell. Both men were at home and neither of them had married anyone for a couple of weeks and they didn't have an appointment to marry anyone for the following week. Bess handed Nancy back the bulk of letters as she put her cell phone away. They walked down the middle of the street, back down towards Georg's car.

"Well, good," Bess said. "This proves that Edgar Nixon and Nancy Smith Drew aren't married."

"Yet," George grumbled blackly.

"No, this only proves that Edgar Nixon and Nancy Smith Drew aren't married in Ridgefield," Nancy corrected.

"Yet," George supplied again.

"Yet," Nancy repeated. "And I don't think they're going to be married in Ridgefield if they haven't been married already."

"So, what are you going to do now, Nancy?" Bess asked.

Nancy looked at the large stack of letters and smiled. "I think I'm going to- shit!"

Nancy was cut off as something hit her from behind, sending her sprawling on the ground, the letters in her hands flying everywhere. Nancy lay, curled on the street.


	13. Chapter 13

******Chapter 13**

**"****Goddamn kid! Watch where you're going!" George called out after the little punk on the sled who was racing down the hill.**

**"****Nancy, you okay?" Bess asked, helping her friend up.**

**"****Is anything hurt?" George asked.**

**"****Mostly my pride," Nancy said, pain still etched onto her face. "And my leg throbs a little. Can I sit?"**

******The cousins helped her to a porch that was cleared of snow and sat with her. Nancy winced and rubbed the back of her neck. She stretched her leg out in front of her slowly, trying to see if anything was sprained. It was sore and bruised, but she would be able to walk on it in a few moments. Nancy looked out at the snow-covered street, the letters still splayed across the snow.**

**"****Do me a favor and pick those up," she said, nodding towards the mail. "They're getting wet with snow."**

******George and Bess nodded and headed back towards the street for the letters. Just as they stepped onto the path, they jumped back to avoid getting hit by another flock of kids on sleds that zoomed, squealing past. They ripped over the letter, tearing them up and burying them under trails of snow.**

**"****Little shits!' George called out after them, shaking an angry fist.**

**"****You're going to be a pain-in-the-ass old lady," Bess said, glaring at her cousin. "The kind that sits on her porch all day long threatening children if they get on your lawn. And you'll have 500 cats and long, stringy gray hair that you never wash. And you'll constantly smell like menthol and fermented milk and you'll never pluck your chin hair and you'll wear ill-fitting skirts and sit with your legs open so that everyone gets a crotch-shot of your stained and wrinkled panties."**

******George scoffed as she bent to begin picking up the letters that were strewn all over the street. "That's ridiculous." She straightened, bundling a couple of the destroyed pieces of mail together. "I'd much prefer to own snakes."**

******Bess rolled her eyes at her cousin and finished picking up the remainder of the letters. They brought them over to Nancy, who was still sitting on the porch. She sighed disappointedly when she took them from the cousins.**

**"****Ah, shit," Nancy said, looking over the ruined mail. "This sucks! This sucks so bad. What the hell am I going to tell Ira?"**

**"****How about that you almost got killed by a worthless punk-ass little jit on a sled?" George offered helpfully with a shrug.**

**"****Damn it, damn it, damn it!" Nancy yelled, frustrated.**

**"****Ooh! Look. This one's open," Bess said with a devilish grin, sliding the small remaining portion of the letter out of the distressed envelope. She looked over the contents perplexed for a second. "Hey… it's got money in it. Holy crap! There's 250 bucks in here!"**

**"****What?" George and Nancy exclaimed, leaning over to look.**

******Nancy fingered the bills. "Oh my God."**

**"****And check this out," Bess said, a devious smirk on her face. "'Dear Guide: I can hardly believe that in a few short days, I'll be in the arms of the man I love. I eagerly **

******count the hours. Yours truly, Millie.'" She looked up from the letter at the other girls. "Maybe we were wrong all along. Maybe Edgar Nixon's not going to marry Nancy Smith Drew. Maybe he's going to marry this Millie chick instead."**

******Nancy hesitated and shrugged doubtfully. "I don't think so. It doesn't make any sense."**

**"****Yo, I got another creepy letter. ****__****And******** another 250," George said, taking out another opened letter. "'Dear Guide: The mere thought that my soul mate and true love are awaiting me and are so soon to arrive sends chills down my spine. I can't work! Love, Janet.'"**

******Nancy looked perplexed, 250 dollars in each hand.**

**"'****Dear Guide:'" Bess read, "'Finally, my prayers have been answered. I can't wait to start my new life, leaving my lonely one behind. Don't keep me waiting too long. Love, Tania.' Another 250."**

******Nancy looked down at the 750 in her hands, her mind whirling. George and Bess looked at her intently.**

**"****What do you think, Nance?" George asked, quietly.**

**"****I think," Nancy said slowly. "I think that there is 250 dollars in every single one of these letters… and I think I know how Edgar Nixon is employed."**

**"****How?" Bess asked.**

**"****Nixon's a conman. He's got a mail-order match-making service going on. Kind of like so desperate, pathetic Lonely Heart's Club thing. I can't believe that someone would stoop as low as this. God! Look at these poor women. Look at all these letters!"**

**"****So you think he charges 250 to pair someone up with their 'soul mate?' And then what? What happens when he doesn't deliver?" George asked.**

**"****That's why Ira never knew where he lived before," Nancy said, piecing it together. "He picks up and leaves. They can never find him."**

**"****Still, 250 seems pretty damn cheap for true love…"**

**"****He probably charges more, if he's worth his weight as a conman," Nancy explained. "If he's smart, he charges about a 1,000 and asks for it in installments. Four separate payments of 250. Damn, this guy is a sleaze."**

**"****But a smart sleaze, you've got to admit. He's running up scams everywhere," Bess said, shaking her head as she read another two opened letters. She gave a sudden, mischievous grin. "Want to find out if there's money in all of these?"**

******Nancy shook her head. "It's one thing to read an opened or half opened letter. It's another thing entirely to open someone's mail and read it."**

**"****Oh, wait… we weren't opening them?" George asked, looking up from one of the letters. "That's my bad."**

**"****Anyway, if we open his mail, how are we any better than him?" Nancy asked.**

**"****Lots of ways, but I guess you're right," Bess said with a sigh. She looked up suddenly. "What if Nancy Smith Drew is one of Edgar's victims? What if she was swindled?"**

**"****Wait, hold up," George said, cutting her cousin off and leaning over to look at her as if she was a simpleton. "If he was going to marry her and jump out, why would he have let her come all the way over here? It doesn't make sense."**

**"****No, I think he's planning to marry her," Nancy said, biting her lip and staring absently into space. "You see, he knows about her inheritance, she doesn't. And I don't **

******think that he is going to let her find out until after they're married. After that, I think he's going to steal it from her somehow."**

**"****We can't let him do that," Bess declared.**

**"****Oh yeah, Sherlock? And just how in hell's name are we supposed to stop him? We can't even find him, for Christ's sake. He's gone, again, and he took Nancy Smith Drew with him," George snapped.**

**"****So?" Bes replied, a little miffed at her cousin's sudden rudeness. "Nancy will know what we have to do. Right, Nancy?"**

**"****You going to give those letters back to Ira?"**

******Nancy hesitated, still thinking, then she shook her head. "No, not like this. First of all, the guy might just collapse again from the shock. I don't want to be responsible for that a second time. Nah, I think if someone's going to tell Ira that his brother is an asshole sleaze ball swindler, it should be the authorities."**

**"****That's a good way to pass the buck," George said with a nod.**

**"****Anyway, I think that I should take these to the post office and have them inspected."**

**"****Are you going to tell them about the match-making scam?" Bess asked, stuffing the letters back into the corresponding envelopes.**

**"****Yeah. Even if I'm wrong, it won't hurt for then to take a look and make sure everything is alright. Besides, people don't just get up and leave without giving a forwarding address or anything unless they have something to hide."**

**"****So we're staying here all night?" Bess whined unhappily.**

**"****Hey, I'm sure that Mrs. Hemmer will be happy to rent us Edgar Nixon's room," George taunted with a devious grin at her cousin.**

**"****Bite me, ass wipe," Bess replied with a glare.**

******George snapped her teeth at her.**

**"****Okay, cut it out," Nancy said, pushing them apart. "We're not staying here. I'm tired and I want to go home-"**

**"****Did you have a little drink about an hour ago and it went straight to your head?" George asked.**

**"****Shut up, dick-face," Nancy laughed. "Look, the letters were entrusted to me, so I'll take them home and give them to the River Heights postmaster tomorrow morning."**

******The girls got back to River Heights late. George dropped Nancy off first and then roared off to Bess's house. Nancy lingered on the porch, thinking something over. One point came to mind, the detective agency that contacted the British lawyers. She had thought that maybe Edgar Nixon had called, posing as the agency or that he had someone posing in as Nancy Smith Drew. But what if that wasn't it. What if Edgar Nixon was smarter than she thought he was.**

******Could it be that Nixon had gotten into contact with a scummy agency and told them he found the heiress. That way, the agency would call London and suspicion would be legally thrown off of Nixon.**


	14. Chapter 14

******Chapter 14**

**"****Nance? That you, baby?" Mr. Drew's voice called out from the living room.**

**"****Yeah, I'm home," Nancy called back, peeking around the corner to look for the source of the voice. She smiled as her father's preoccupied face met her. "Were you worried about me, dad?"**

**"****You'd better believe it. The storm didn't hit River Heights that bad, but it was rough up in Ridgefield. I was just glad that you went in George's Jeep. I wasn't, however, too glad that George was driving…" Carson shook his head. He stopped suddenly, looking over his daughter's disheveled appearance. "What the hell happened to you? You look like a wreck."**

******Nancy's hand automatically came up to brush through her hair, which was mussed up. She realized her coat was smeared and that she had patches of dirt staining her pants. "Well, that storm had something to do with what happened to me today."**

**"****Were you in an accident with the car? Are you hurt?" Hannah asked from her spot in the kitchen, whipping potatoes.**

**"****Accident, yes. With the car, no. I've got a bruise and a little cut on my leg where a punk on a sled knocked me over. But, don't worry, I'm fine," she added as her father bent to pull her pant leg up and look at the damage. Hannah paused in her whipping and when she saw Mr. Drew rise, unconcerned, she continued. "It's good, actually. If it wasn't for that kid, the letters would never have opened and I wouldn't have found out about Edgar Nixon running a match making scam and-"**

**"****Whoa, whoa," Carson cried with a laugh, waving his hands to stop the flood of words. "Information overload. Take off your heavy clothes and tell us about this at the table, it sounds good."**

******They all sat and, over Hannah's meal, Nancy told them both about what she had learned in Ridgefield.**

**"****Nixon is a skeeze," Nancy murmured as she stuck a forkful of potatoes into her mouth with a sour expression.**

**"****Yeah," Carson agreed, not knowing what else to say. "You'd never have thought that Ira Nixon would have a conman for a brother. I think it's a really good idea giving those letters to the postal inspector. But, you're going to have to tell Ira something."**

**"****I can't lie to him," Nancy said, cringing at the thought of hurting the poor guy. "George could lie to him maybe, but I don't think I can."**

**"****So don't lie. Just… spin the story the way you think would be best. Um… okay, what if you say that the letters were damaged and you thought that the post office should take care of them first."**

******Nancy thought it over for a minute, a slow smile creeping over her face. "Yeah, that'll work. Not a lie. Just… not the entire truth. George would be proud…" She thought of something suddenly and looked at her father. "Any news from Bates-Jones in London?"**

******Mr. Drew shook his head. "I'm kind of glad there's nothing. You're going up to Emerson with the girls tomorrow, right?"**

**"****Yeah."**

****

**"****I don't want you up there thinking about this. I want you to have fun. In fact, there is something in the paper I think that you'd find very interesting."**

******He reached onto the unused chair and pulled for the newspaper, tossing it in front of his daughter. She learned forward and saw that it was flipped to the sports page. In big, bold letters, the main article stated:**

******EMERSON COUNTS ON NICKERSON'S TOE**

******Nancy's heart jerked and she tried to contain a smile. She grabbed the paper and read the article in full quickly. Apparently, Ned had been praised for his field goal kicking abilities. She tried to contain a blush, but her father and Hannah saw it and gave her patronizing looks.**

**"****Aren't you the lucky girl?" Hannah said in a teasing tone. "So honored to be the guest. To be Mrs. Nickerson…"**

**"****Shut up, you know it's not like that," Nancy said.**

**"****Do we?" Carson taunted. At his daughter's death glare he stood form the table. "All right, all right! I'm out of here. I'm going bowling with some of the guys. I'll see you guys later." He kissed Hannah and Nancy's foreheads and then walked out of the house.**

******Nancy began collecting the dishes to help Hannah clean up, but the woman stopped her.**

**"****There's not a lot to do here, just the dishes," Hannah told her. "You go upstairs and start packing. You're going to have to get up early if you're going to drop those letters off at the post office before you pick up Bess and George. It's a long drive up to Emerson."**

**"****Ugh, yeah," Nancy sighed and rolled her eyes. "And I'm sure that George won't make it any easier on us. She'll try to complain the whole time if she can get away with it."**

******Hannah laughed. "That's George for you. And plus, I'm sure you want to relax a while before you go off and don whatever it is you're going to do tomorrow night."**

**"****It's the Shakespeare play tomorrow and we'd have to change. We need to get there before six. I'm hoping that I can meet Nancy Smith Drew as soon as possible."**

**"****Remember what your dad said."**

**"****I know, I know. I won't stress out, I just want to see the damned woman already."**

**"****Take a picture. I want to see her too," Hannah called as the girl went up the stairs to pack.**

******Nancy had begun to pack, running through the list of necessities when she heard the doorbell downstairs. She ignored it, knowing that Hannah would get it since she was downstairs. After a couple of minutes, voices started wafting up the stairway and Nancy thought she heard Hannah fighting with someone. She slowed down in her packing, trying to catch a gist of what was being said. After that, she heard Hannah's footsteps coming up the stairs and a second later the housekeepers annoyed face poked through her door.**

****

**"****It's that annoying brute again," Hannah sighed, exasperated. "I told her to go away because you were busy, but she refuses to leave until she sees you. Do I tell her to jump off a cliff?"**

******Nancy contained a grin. "Skeets?" Hannah nodded. Nancy shrugged. "I guess I should find out what she wants or she might stay there all night. And I'd like to sleep tonight if at all possible."**

******Nancy got to the door and saw the familiar, gangly figure well bundled. Her stringy hair was shooting out from underneath her hat and she had the same worn and tattered fake fur coat thrown over the scrawny shoulder. She looked at Nancy with a sneering grin.**

**"****Knew you'd come and see me. Nosy as always," Skeets said in her rough voice.**

**"****What do you want?" Nancy asked, getting straight to the point without the courtesies.**

**"****Like I said before, I don't want nothing that ain't mine and I meant it."**

**"****I'm not giving you one more cent," Nancy declared, giving her a look.**

**"****Don't you sass me, jumping to conclusions like that. You might regret it. I'll leave right now and you'll never know why I came. You can't stand that now, can you? I came on an errand of good will, I'll have you know, and I intend to see it through, but you're testing me."**

******The tirade amused Nancy and she calmed down, curious to know what Skeets had come for. "I'm listening."**

**"****I thought as much. Most of you younger girls don't listen to their elders. A lot of them little chicks think that they can show the old birds how to fly. How backwards. They never listen to a word of good sense and it does 'em wrong. Like I was saying to my neighbor, Mrs. Brant, the other day who has six little brats of her own, 'Mrs. Brant,' I said, 'I said-'"**

**"****Can you please tell me why you came, I'm really busy upstairs."**

**"****Well, fine," Skeets snapped, annoyed. "I just came by to tell you that all those people's missing mail was returned to them this morning."**

**"****What?" Nancy asked, surprised.**

******Skeets gave a smirk. "I knew I'd blow your socks off, I did."**

******Nancy realized that her mail hadn't been returned. She looked at the skinny woman. "How do you know?"**

**"****Well, 'cause I asked, that's how. We got a new mail carrier. I heard that poor old man was still sick. He was always very nice, he was. Anyway, this morning I got three letters. The first was from the electric company, which was a total sham. I didn't run no fifty-three dollars worth of electricity! We go to bed early, my old man and I, and you can bet that they'll be hearing from old Mrs. Maud Skeets, they will.**

**"****The other one wasn't a letter at all, but a postcard from an old friend of mine from New York. She moved down to Florida. House looked like a prize catch. That is, before she actually got there. Now she's living in a rat hole, barely making ends meet. She said to me last that she don't know what the rich folk see in Florida and I agreed. The whole place is a-"**

**"****Please, Mrs. Skeets," Nancy said. "What does this have to do with you coming to see me?"**

****

**"****I'm getting there, hold you horses. Where was I? See? Now you made me forget. Let me think… Oh, yes! The last letter was from Joe's sister. I knew for a damned fact that she wouldn't write us twice in one week if someone held a gun to her head. I opened it up and what do you think was inside? A hundred dollars. Now I know she would give me two hundred dollars in one week anymore than she'd give me a million. So, I looked at the envelope and just as I thought. Post-marked twice by the post office."**

**"****Good. That'll help Ira relax a lot," Nancy said with a smile.**

**"****I guess I owe you an apology," Skeets said in just as brash a voice as usual. "But, anyway, here are your hundred dollars back."**

******Nancy looked over the woman and sighed. Skeets was annoying, but not a menace. Just a bitter and worn woman trying to get by. She felt a surge of pity for the woman.**

**"****Go ahead and keep it," Nancy offered.**

******Skeets scoffed. "I don't need no charity from some rich, spoiled girl, no sir. Take it back. Like I said, I don't want ****__****nothing******** that ain't mine."**

******Nancy took the bill that was thrown her way and watched as Skeets popped her collar up and headed back out towards the street. She stopped as she passed the porch and looked back at Nancy with a devious grin.**

**"****I guess you had your fun," she said.**

**"****Excuse me?" Nancy asked.**

**"****You don't think I'm stupid, do you? You and those two other girls just couldn't help yourself to a prank. Still, it was pretty mean to do that to a poor old man, hiding all his mail for a couple of days."**

******Nancy was furious. "Ira Nixon happens to be a good friend of mine and neither I nor my friends would ever stoop to that level. The post office wouldn't think that it was funny either. We could be held liable for that."**

**"****All right, all right, I was wrong. But you can't blame me for thinking my thoughts, now can you. I won't say anything else. Have a good life, Nancy Drew."**

******Nancy closed the door, still enraged and found Hannah standing behind her, shaking her head and looking out the window at the bundled figure heading towards the bus stop.**

**"****There is a reason why her husband is a sailor. I'd take long trips if I was married to her too," Hannah announced.**

******Nancy laughed for a good long time and patted Hannah's arm.**

**"****I did notice something, though," she said as she sobered. "Our mail wasn't returned. That just proves that Nixon was after our mail all along. Probably dad's certified letter. He couldn't have known about the hundred dollars in the Skeets' mail and he didn't care about what was in any of the others. He probably didn't have time to weed ours out of the sack and he just grabbed everything."**

**"****This directly involves you in the case then, honey," Hannah commented, raising her brows. "You'd better finish packing. It's getting late."**

**"****Yeah," Nancy commented absently.**

******She climbed the stairs, her mind whirling. She finished packing and went to bed, but had trouble sleeping. Finally, she decided that she couldn't do anything else other than drop the letters off at the post office tomorrow. At least that part of this case would be closed.**


	15. Chapter 15

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey, hey, hey! I know I haven't updated in a while, but here it is. Better late than never, I guess. Thanks for all the reviews, I really appreciate it. Please tell me what you think!

Chapter 15

By eight the following morning, Nancy was ready to go. She wasn't supposed to pick the girls up until ten, but she wanted to get this mail thing sorted out. She grabbed the stack of mashed and wrinkled letters, shoved her suitcase into the trunk of her car and headed towards the post office. The postal inspector, Mr. Wernick, was in and gladly attended to her.

"Hello Nancy," he said. "How is your family?"

"Everyone is okay, thanks," Nancy replied with a smile.

"Listen, I heard about what happened earlier this week and I apologize. You are in no way to blame. Moore already got his head shrunk three or four sizes. Besides, Ira Nixon is an old and personal friend. It's a shame that this had to happen to him. And McGinnis told me who the prime suspect is. Too bad."

Nancy nodded. "I know. Ira doesn't deserve this. By the way, I'm happy to hear that most of the mail stolen from him was returned."

"Yes, it was a good thing. Bad news is that we're still no closer to finding out anything about the person who took it. Even that shoe your friend found didn't do any good. There were no fingerprints to be picked up on it and we couldn't find any matching shoe prints around Ira's house. Even if they were Nixon's shoes, how many people own the same pair?"

"Still. Yeah, but what are the odds of having found that shoe _in_ Nixon's car?"

"We don't know it _was_ his car," Wernick reminded her. "And even so, who'd pin it on a brother with so little hard evidence? But, why are we having this fight? The prints don't match anyway, so who cares? What'd you come by for, Nancy?"

"Actually, to give you these," she replied, reaching forward and plopping the stack of mangled letters in front of him. She gave him a quick recount of what she had been through yesterday and how she was put in charge of the letters. After reading him the letters they had found open and showing him the 750 dollars that they'd seen personally, she explained, "I think Edgar Nixon is a conman and he runs a mail based match-making scam. I think he probably works in installments of 250 for a total of a thousand dollars for a match and then skips out as soon as the last installment arrives."

Wernick was staring down at the mail on his desk, eyes wide and head shaking. "This is serious. I think you've got a pretty good suspicion and I think that you're probably right about the whole installment plan. I'll run the rest of the letters through the X-ray machine and see if there's money in all of them."

Nancy gave a satisfied smile as Wernick called one of his workers forward and gave him instructions on what to do with the letters. Nancy glanced at her watch.

"Uh, about how long is this going to take?" she asked.

"You think you don't have time to wait? Well, you'd better, girlie. Besides, it won't take too long."

The worker was only a few minutes with the letters. He handed the stack back and gave his report.

"I'd say there is money in all of these. About 250 maybe from what I saw."

"Thanks, Jenkins," Wernick said, dismissing him. "Good lead Nancy. I'll tell McGinnis and his boys about this and see if they can get to work on this case from a new angle. Nixon has to have messed up somewhere."

"I'm hoping so. Anyway, I've got to get out of here. Thanks a lot Mr. Wernick. Have a good one."

"You too, love. See you later."

She was on the phone before she even got the car started.

"Yeah, yeah, we're ready," George snapped.

"I got it! The evidence it really piling up now. Nixon's going down for sure!" Nancy yelled, ignoring George's snappy remark.

"What? What happened?"

Nancy could hear Bess in the background. "Tell me! I want to know!"

"Shut up, whiny," George called over her shoulder. "What'd you get, Nance?"

"Mr. Wernick-"

"Mr. Who-What?"

"The postal inspector. Shut up and let me finish! Anyway, he thought that my idea about the Lonely Hearts Club was good and he ran the rest of the letters through and X-ray machine. Guess what he found?"

"They all had cash!"

"Exactly!"

There was a scuffle on the other end of the phone and Nancy glanced at it, confused for a second. Then there was the sound of labored breathing and Bess's voice. Nancy figured she had managed to wrestle it out of George's hand. Much to George's dismay. She could hear the angry ranting in the background.

"They all have 250 each? So they pinned Nixon?" Bess asked.

"Not pinned, exactly, but they got some strong evidence now," Nancy replied with a grin, turning into George's neighborhood. "I'm almost there. Meet me outside."

The cousins were standing on the Fayne porch when Nancy roared up, their suitcases piled around their feet.

"Oh my God," Nancy said, looking at the five suitcases. "It's only a weekend for Christ's sake! How much did you think you girls' needed?"

"No, no. No, no," George stated defensively, holding up the smallest suitcase. "This it mine. That is _all_ Bess."

"I just want to be prepared," Bess snuffed, loading the first case in the car.

"I don't know if it'll all fit," Nancy grunted, lifting a second case in the trunk.

"Well, Bess, I hope you're prepared," George said, slipping her case into the trunk before space ran out. "Prepared to sit in the backseat with all your crap."

"You're an ass monkey," Bess told her.

"What's an ass monkey?" Nancy asked.

"George. George is an ass monkey."

"Okay, tell us everything," George said as they set out in the car.

Bess groaned in the back, rolling her eyes and Nancy grinned, recapping the post office story anyway. She told them about the shoe and how it fell through, but that Mr. Wernick thought the letters were awesome evidence against Nixon.

"Okay, you know what? Between right now and until you see that other Nancy at the play tonight, no more talking about this stupid stuff," Bess declared firmly. "I refuse to meet Dave again with my head filled with bullshit."

"Better bullshit than nothing at all," George said with an overly fake-sweet smile.

Bess smacked her. Then she pressed her nose to the back glass. "Ooh! Look! A sweet little diner. Let's stop for lunch, I'm starving."

"Of course you are."

"I'm pretty hungry, too," Nancy said, mediating once again.

They pulled in, under strict orders from Nancy not to take too long, they got the first booth available. When their food was at the table, they got to talking.

"So," George said with a devious glint in her eyes. "How long have you and Ned been dating again?"

Nancy dropped her shoulders and gave her an exasperated look. "For the last time. Ned and I are _not_ dating. We date, as in go on dates every once in a while. We are not exclusive."

"Ah, okay, I get it," Bess said, with a tilt of her head. "And what other dates have you been on since you met Ned?"

"Jeremy Richter," Nancy said.

"Accidentally bumping into each other at a party for your fathers' firm doesn't count," George corrected. "And besides, you said maybe ten words to him. And Jeremy Richter is gross."

Bess crooned, making kissy noises. "Oh _Ned_! Ow! Hey!" She rubbed her cheek where Nancy had decked her with a fry.

"Cut it out, guys. I mean, yeah, Ned's cool. And okay, I haven't gone out with anyone else since we met," Nancy shrugged. "But it's not officially anything but a couple of dates. Can we just drop it now?"

"No. This is payback for this dumbass date scam," George said, pointing accusingly at her.

"We have to go anyway. Come on."

They dropped their money on the table and piled back into the car, Bess complaining about her bags cramping her legs up. Two hours later, the towers of Emerson College loomed into view. Nancy drove straight to the Omega Chi Epsilon House. They parked into the lot near the dorm and got out of the car. Nancy popped the trunk and began trying to tug out one of the suitcases that was wedged in. She grunted with effort as Bess almost fell on her ass taking one of the two cases from the backseat of the car.

"Need some help?"

Nancy turned and gave a beaming, genuine smile. "Ned?"

Ned smiled and supported her weight as she jumped at him and hugged him tightly with a laugh. He dropped her and kissed her cheek with a mind-blowing smile.

"What are you doing here? I thought you said practice would go long," Nancy said.

"You think I really wouldn't come to meet you?" Ned asked. "Here, let me get those."

George made kissy-faces behind Ned's back and Nancy threatened her with a raised fist. Bess was smoothing her cashmere sweater down over her belly, trying hard to look nonchalant.

"So, Ned," she started. "Where's your friend? The one on the team with you. Danny, was it?"

"Right," Ned said, remembering something. "Dave told me to tell you he's caught up in rehearsal, but that he'd make it up to you tonight with dinner."

"No way! Really? Dave said that?" Bess squealed. Then she remembered that she was playing hard-to-get. "Cool, I guess. I might eat beforehand though."

"Uh huh. How long did you guys think this trip was?" Ned asked, pulling out more and more suitcases from the trunk.

George and Nancy pointed at Bess. Bess stomped, frustrated.

"I'm just being practical!" she yelled.

"Ooookay," Ned drawled, raising his brows and carrying two of the bags inside the dorm.

The sisters at the dorm set them up in two separate dorms. Bess and George shared one and Nancy got another. Ned set down the last of Bess's bags and met Nancy in the hallway.

"Alright, I'm going to go shower," Ned told her, wiping his palms on his jeans. "I'll come to get you guys in an hour."

"Hour and a half!" Bess shouted from her room.

"Hour and a half," Ned corrected.

"Kay," Nancy said with a small smile. "See you." She turned to go back to her room to start getting ready.

"Hey," Ned said softly, grabbing her wrist and pulling her around to him.

Nancy melted as he kissed her, deep and zealous, and she kissed him back. After half a minute, way too short a time in Nancy's taste, he let her go, smiled the smile of an angel, and disappeared.

Nancy stood, dumbfounded and dazzled in the hallway and was roused suddenly by kissy noises. She turned to see George and Bess writhing in the door frame of their room. She flicked them the bird and went to her room.


	16. Chapter 16

******Chapter 16**

******Ned picked the three of them up in exactly an hour and a half. Bess was still doing her makeup, but he didn't seem too bothered. He sat next to Nancy, playing with her fingers out of sight under the couch cushions. Nancy herself was, for once, glad that Bess took forever. Finally, they left, piling into the car. The school theater was getting pretty packed.**

**"****Hey isn't that Phil?" Nancy asked, pointing out one of Ned's football teammates. "And Tom? And Derek?"**

******Ned grinned. "Yeah. Most of the football team came to, you know… watch Burt and Dave fall on their asses."**

**"****You guys are mean," Bess said, trying to hide a smile and failing.**

**"****Hey, is there any way that we can see Nancy Smith Drew before the play?" Nancy asked Ned in a hushed voice.**

**"****We can sure as hell try," Ned replied. He motioned to a row of open seat. "Bess, George, grab those for us. We'll be right back."**

**"****Got it," George said, saluting and heading through the crowd.**

******Ned and Nancy headed towards the back of the stage towards the dressing rooms. There were some drama students rushing around, but when Ned asked where Burt was, they pointed towards the back. He was motioning towards the stage, directing the background sets and when he caught sight of them and a huge smile came over his angelic face. He scooped Nancy off the ground in a bear hug and grinned widely.**

**"****Nancy Drew! It's been forever since I saw you, girly!" he said, setting her on the ground, his blue eyes laughing. "What brings you back stage?"**

**"****Actually, I wanted to see if I could talk to Ms. Smith Drew," Nancy said, looking around.**

**"****Oh, yeah. I heard you were on a new scent," Burt said. He shook his head and shrugged. "Sorry, kid, bad news. Ms. Drew hasn't come back from her oh-so urgent errand. I wish she had, for you and me both. I don't know jack shit about coaching a Shakespearean play and I had to think on my feet and pull a fast one. I'm kind of expecting this all to be a big flop."**

******Nancy was disappointed, but she put on an encouraging smile and rubbed Burt's back. "You'll be fine. When you aren't being retarded, you're a pretty smart guy."**

******Burt laughed. "The sweetest bitch to ever walk the earth."**

**"****We'll see you later, bro. Good luck," Ned said, steering Nancy away and heading back towards the seats.**

******Nancy had deflated. "She must've married Nixon. This blows."**

**"****Okay, obviously things have happened that I'm not aware of. After all this, you've got to let me in on it. Maybe if you talk it out you'll feel better," Ned offered.**

******She smiled up at him. "Thanks, Ned. You're sweet."**

******They filed into their seats next to Bess and George.**

**"****Did you find her? What did she say?" George asked, but at that moment a drama student stepped into the spotlight and Nancy waved her away for later.**

**"****Good evening Emerson!" she said with a smile and the crowd roared ecstatically. "I know that you were all expecting to see a performance of a Shakespeare play. As you've read, the drama club engaged the services of a Miss Smith Drew, but unfortunately she was called out of town and has not returned."**

******George and Bess looked at Nancy shocked and Nancy just shrugged.**

**"****Late this afternoon we decided that it would be impossible to put on the play that you all deserved, so we've substituted it with a play we were going to premier in the spring. It's called ****__****The Mix-Up********. It's not as polished as we would like, but we hope that you'll all enjoy it. And now, ****__****The Mix-Up********."**

******The audience clapped supportively as the announcer stepped into the wings and the curtains rose. Everyone except George.**

**"****The only freaking reason I came up here and it falls through," she said through clenched teeth. "Typical. Absolutely typical. God damn my life."**

******There was a musical background that started and the play's star stepped onto the stage.**

**"****No. Freaking. Way," Bess said, leaning forward.**

******Ned was grinning deviously and a snicker ran through the football player. "Oh, this is just too good. God is great. God is benevolent and wonderful."**

**"****There is no way that's Dave."**

**"****That's Dave!" a girl behind them called out, pointing at the stage.**

******Dave was wearing a lovely black wig and practically singing out his lines. All his massive, football body was poured into a suggestive sweater and a mini-skirt. He was prancing and skipping around the stage, reveling in the attention.**

**"****Christ, the least he could've done was shave his legs," George said, jabbing at her cousin.**

******Dave turned out to be the star playing the girl and her twin brother. It was an appropriately named play and Dave made the most of his acting abilities, which were close to none. But he had fun with it, putting it all out there and making the audience crack up. Burt had a couple of bit parts, coming in once in a while to deliver a one-liner and dash back out. It was so funny watching Dave lumber around on stage, making an absolute ass of himself, and loving it, that Nancy managed to forget about the other Nancy and Edgar Nixon and get into the play. Even George was laughing her ass off, her sour mood out the window. Finally, the actor's took a bow and the curtain dropped. Everyone in the theater began to file out slowly.**

******The group made it back stage to find Dave and Burt. There was a crowd of football players and friends surrounding Dave, already changed back. When he caught sight of them he cut through the crowd and greeted them.**

**"****Hey! You came!" he said to Bess, a happy smile on his face. He touched the fur on her collar. "Nice coat."**

**"****Yeah, it's squirrel," George cut in. "She shot it herself on the way up here."**

******Bess shoved her. "I would never wear real fur. Unless it was mink."**

******George grunted, disgusted.**

**"****What? They're mean!"**

**"****Great job, man. Really funny," Ned said with a grin.**

**"****You were awesome," Nancy added.**

**"****Thanks, guys," he said, then turned to Bess. "Hey, I'm starving. Want to get something to eat?"**

**"****Sure," she replied dreamily.**

**"****Hey, where's Burt?" Nancy asked.**

******Dave gave a malicious grin. "Due to the success of the play, the drama coach insisted on taking him out to dinner with all the girls. Unfortunately, I already had plans."**

**"****You threw him to the wolves," Ned translated.**

**"****Oh, absolutely."**

**"****Well, if you two are going out I guess I'll take Nancy and George out for a bite. Have fun. Later."**

**"****Bye," Dave and Bess chorused, no longer listening to him.**

******Derek Roberts caught sight of Ned and Nancy as they were filing out and yelled out to them. "Yo, Ned! Good to see you, Nancy Drew!"**

******They turned to look and Ned went to talk to Derek when Nancy saw one of the girls next to her snap her head around, stopping suddenly and scanning the crowd. Nancy looked straight at the girl and caught her eye.**

**"****You're Nancy Drew?" the girl asked, a little surprised.**

******Nancy was even more surprised when she caught the hints of a British accent in her tone. "Yeah."**

**"****Oh, I'm sorry. I thought it was… never mind, I'm sorry," she said and turned to walk away.**

**"****Whoa, wait, hold on," Nancy said, grabbing her shoulder and stopping her. "You thought what?"**

**"****No nothing, I thought that it was a different Nancy Drew. It was an old family friend. Truth is, the only reason I was so surprised to hear the name is because I could've sworn that I saw her here today. I thought maybe someone else recognized her as well."**

**"****You saw Nancy Drew. Nancy Smith Drew? The acting coach?"**

**"****I don't know about an acting coach. I'm just visiting here. My boyfriend invited me to watch him in the football game tomorrow. When the announcer said her name I didn't really click. Then I turned around at some point and I could've sworn I saw my old nanny. Or at least, someone who looked a whole lot like her."**

**"****She was your nanny."**

**"****Uh huh."**

**"****No freaking way. You're the Wilson girl!" Nancy said, grabbing her shoulders enthusiastically.**

**"****It's like luck flows through her freaking veins," she heard George mumble from behind her and Ned, who had finished with Derek, snickered.**

**"****Um, how do you know my name…?" the girl asked, confused.**

**"****I talked to your mother. Oh my God! I can't believe this. I called your mother looking for Nancy Smith Drew. I got a letter that was supposed to be for her. She's inherited some money and I'm trying to find her."**

**"****Oh! How sweet for her. She was a very nice lady that I can remember. I've been at school and my mom didn't give me the message I guess."**

**"****You're sure you saw her here tonight?" Nancy asked.**

**"****Well, pretty sure. I mean, I guess-"**

**"****Marian! I found your sweater," a boy called out, cutting through the rows to meet up with his girlfriend. He looked over the group. "Ned. Hey Nancy, how've you been?"**

**"****Frank Doolittle," Nancy said with a smile. He was on the second string team of the football team. "This is your girlfriend?"**

**"****Yup," he said, swinging a proud arm around Marian's shoulders. "Beautiful, huh? How do you know each other?"**

**"****Long story," she replied, rushed. "Marian, when did you see Ms. Drew?"**

**"****A couple of minutes before the end of the show. When I looked again she had moved. Maybe she left already," Marian said with a shrug.**

**"****A few minutes ago," Nancy repeated in a daze, gazing at the door. "She still might be close. Would you come with me to see if we can find her since you know what she looks like? I'm sorry I'm breaking up your date, but please?"**

**"****Absolutely, it's no problem."**

**"****Meet you out front?" she said to Ned.**

******He smiled. "Sure. We'll be waiting."**

**"****Hurry up, I'm starving," George called back, following Ned outside.**

**"****I saw her just outside this door of here," Marian said, pointing to the left doors.**

******The girls ran that way, skirting around the stragglers still in the theater.**

**"****Oh my God, that's her! There she goes now!" Marian exclaimed pointing to a side door that led to the gym.**

**"****Hurry!" Nancy called out, speeding out ahead of the other girl.**

******Nancy yanked open the gym door, Marian almost crashing into her and bolted inside. The gym was dark, but they saw a faint shadow at the far end.**

**"****The side exit! It goes out to the west hallway," Nancy said, running towards it.**

******They barreled into the bright hallway, blinking frantically, but finding no one.**

**"****Miss Drew!" Nancy yelled out, her eyes just becoming accustomed to the light again. "Miss Drew!"**

**"****Nancy Drew!" Marian joined in.**

**"****Shit! Come on, we can still catch her," Nancy said, heading to the left. "She probably left something in one of the lockers now that she's done with the drama club for good."**

******But the locker room was just as empty. It had only one other exit and the girls headed out of it. After following the single left turn they were met with a flight of metal stairs that spiral both up and down.**

**"****Damn, which way did she go?" Marian asked, glancing upwards. "Up or down?"**

******Nancy glanced at the stairs, a single unshaded light bulb illuminating the way feebly.**

**"****Okay, you go up, I'll head down," she said.**

**"****Right," Marian agreed and dashed up the stairs two at a time calling the actress's name.**

******Nancy flew down the stairs and found herself faced with a door that had a big "WARNING: ELECTRICAL ROOM – AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY" sign on it.**

**"****Okay, not going to be in here," Nancy said and headed back.**

******She was half way up to the top floor when she met up with Marian.**

**"****Find her?" she asked.**

******Nancy shook her head. "Just the electrical room. You?"**

**"****Nothing up a big dark room that looked like a faculty lounge."**

**"****Damn it, she's gone," Nancy said, sighing and shaking her head. She recovered and smiled up at Marian. "Thanks anyway for coming along. Sorry I was so much trouble."**

**"****Oh, no problem at all. I had fun," Marian giggled, heading down the stairs with Nancy towards the door they came in by.**

******She pushed on the bar, but the door didn't open. She pushed again and it didn't budge. She looked at Nancy, scared.**

**"****Okay, I'm not having fun anymore," Marian said.**

******Just then there was an electrical whir and the light shut off.**

**"****Oh shit, they're closing up for the night. We're locked in," Nancy said, pulling on the door frantically. She pounded on the door. "Help us! We're locked in here!"**

******Nothing.**

**"****What now?" Marian asked.**

**"****That lounge, was there another way out?"**

**"****Yeah, I saw a door at the far end!"**

**"****Go."**

******The girls groped along the pitch black stairs slowly, trying not to slip and fall. Finally they opened the connecting door into the faculty lounge and there was a dim light coming in through the two large windows at the east wall. They headed towards the door at the end of the room but it was locked too.**

**"****Shit! Shit, shit, shit! What are we going to do?" Marian asked, starting to freak out.**

**"****Maybe we can get out through one of the windows," Nancy said, heading towards them.**

******She grunted lifting the heavy pane, but there was a screen nailed into place on the other side.**

**"****God hates us, doesn't he?" Marian said, throwing her hands up in the air.**

******Nancy said nothing, just moved on to the other window. The same situation caught her up here as well. She was focused on trying to pry out the screws when Marian gasped.**

**"****That's her. That's Nancy Smith Drew right there! She's leaving in that car! MISS DREW!"**

**"****What?! Where?" Nancy yelled, rushing to her side.**

******But when she looked out, there was no car in sight and Marian sighed.**

**"****She's gone. All of this for nothing," the girl said.**

******Nancy felt a wave of exasperation and uselessness crash heavily over her shoulder. She steeled to the disappointment and focused. Her main task was to get out of here.**

**"****The most we can do is try to get someone's attention. Scream as loud as you can, Marian," Nancy instruction, leaning as far out the window as the screen would allow.**

**"****HEY! HELP US! WE'RE UP HERE! HELLO!"**

**"****GET US OUT OF HERE! HELP!"**

******After a minute there appeared several dim shadows from the distance.**

**"****OVER HERE!" Nancy yelled, jumping in excitement.**

******The street light caught one of the shadows and George came into view, glancing around.**

**"****George! Hey, George! Help us, we're stuck!" Nancy yelled at the tomboy.**

******George glanced around. "Nancy?"**

**"****Where? Where is she?" Ned asked, coming out of the dark. Frank was trailing behind him.**

**"****Up here, Frank! We're in the top room!" Marian yelled, waving her arms.**

**"****Holy shit, what are you doing up there?" Frank asked.**

**"****Painting our nails and braiding our hair, Frank. We're locked in here, what do you think?"**

**"****I'm getting the security guard now. We'll get you out of there, just stay calm," Ned said, dashing off.**

******The other two followed him around the building. After another ten minutes, the hallway light at the other end of the far door flicked on and the girls crowded around it. The guard opened the door and moved aside as the girls rushed out to meet their friends. Ned hugged Nancy tightly and ran a hand over her hair.**

**"****You okay?" Ned asked, looking at her worriedly.**

**"****Fine. Just starving," Nancy said.**

**"****Now this is just a shot in the dark, but I'm guessing you didn't find her," George said sarcastically.**

******Marian spoke up. "No, I saw her leaving in a car before you guys showed up."**

**"****Maybe I'm not as lucky as you thought," Nancy told George with a rueful smile.**

**"****I'm sure Lady Luck has something up her sleeve," George replied with a nod.**

**"****I got it! Did Burt know where she was staying when she was here? We could pass by," Nancy said.**

**"****We could still stop that bogus wedding," George said with an excited smile. "Awesome. I love trashing weddings."**

**"****Wedding?" Ned repeated, already calling Burt. "Hello? Yo, Burt, you know where the acting coach was staying."**

******Everyone was quiet, listening to the conversation. They could hear the faint answer from Burt.**

**"****Yeah, I made the reservations with a Mrs. Roderick. She has a boarding house on Linden Road and 137********th********. I got the number in my wallet. Hold on… It's 13756."**

**"****Alright, thanks man. Hope you're enjoying dinner," Ned said with a malicious grin, writing the number on his hand.**

**"****Dick," Burt said and hung up.**

**"****Well, we're going to go. It was nice meeting you Nancy. Hope you find her," Marian said, shaking hands goodbye. "If you do, tell her I say hi."**

**"****Sure thing, thanks for the help," Nancy said. The groups split up and headed towards their car.**

******They had almost reached the car on the other side of the theater when a big rock whizzed through the air, aimed directly at Nancy.**

**"****Look out!" Ned yelled.**


	17. Chapter 17

******Chapter 17**

******Ned had caught a glimpse of the rock and pulled Nancy and George down at once. They landed with a hard grunt on the asphalt, Nancy scraping her palms. The rock sailed over their heads and they all flinched as glass shattered behind them.**

**"****Holy shit!" George yelled, covering her head.**

******Nancy looked up to see who had thrown the rock. She caught a glimpse of a guy running through the parking lot.**

**"****Get back here you little shit!" Ned roared, furious.**

******He leapt off the ground and dashed after the man. George and Nancy followed behind him.**

**"****Damn, your boyfriend's fast," George said between breaths.**

**"****He's not my boyfriend!" Nancy retorted, struggling to keep up with Ned.**

**"****You almost got pegged in the head with a rock and this is the shit you're worried about correcting?"**

**"****Shut up and run."**

******Ned caught the guy in a tackle and pulled him up off the ground in an iron fist, pulling him around to face him.**

**"****What the hell do you think you're doing, asshole? You almost hit someone in the head! What the hell is your problem?"**

******Nancy and George had caught up to them and Nancy looked over the man in Ned's grip, struggling to get free. He was dressed in worn, slightly tattered clothing. His hair was a giant, unkempt bush of dark brown and he was about two days past a five o'clock shadow.**

**"****You almost hit me!" Nancy accused angrily.**

**"****But I didn't! So tell your thug to let me go," the guy demanded, squirming.**

**"****Hey, shut up!" Ned said, shaking him. "Tell me why you threw the rock and then maybe I'll let you go."**

**"****What's your name?" George snapped.**

******The man stopped struggling at that and the color drained from his face. "Look, I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean nothing by it, just please let me go."**

**"****She asked what your name was, you God damn bum," Ned growled.**

**"****I don't wanna say."**

**"****Would you rather tell the police?" Nancy threatened.**

**"****No! Wait, hold on!" the man pleaded, squirming again. "Like I said, I didn't mean nothing by it so you can't hold me for nothing! Let me go! Hey, what're you doing?" he asked as Nancy took out her phone.**

**"****Calling the cops," she said smoothly. "I'm sure they'll be interested to know why you were a part of an attempted assault and battery."**

**"****Nah, come on, hang up!"**

**"****What's your name?" Ned asked.**

**"****Please don't-"**

**"****Yes, hello?" Nancy said into the phone.**

**"****Otto Busch! My name's Otto!"**

******Nancy clicked shut the phone and looked at him expectantly.**

**"****Come on, guys, I'm just a lousy bum. I don't got nothing against any of you's."**

**"****Then tell us who does," Ned demanded.**

**"****Some smooth-looking guy came up to me about twenty minutes ago and asked if I wanted to make some easy money and I'm always wanting to make some easy money." He paused and Ned shook him so hard he yelped. "And then, nothing, he gave me a hundred bucks to throw a rock at you and get you real scared. Gave me a picture and told me where to find you."**

**"****Scare her? What is this, a crappy Mafia flick?" George asked.**

**"****Scare me about what?" Nancy asked, more reasonably than George.**

******Otto shrugged in Ned's grip. "Like I know? Guess the guy's got something on you."**

**"****What'd he look like?" Nancy asked, getting a feeling.**

**"****Tall, maybe about his height," he said, nodding up at Ned. "Got really snazzy clothes on and a hot red car. Really pretty like."**

**"****How much did he pay you for this?" George asked.**

**"****Hundred bucks," Otto said.**

**"****That's a lot of money to throw a dinky rock."**

**"****Guess so."**

**"****Then you won't mind giving me fifty to fix the theater window you smashed, do you?" Ned asked.**

**"****Well, I really-"**

**"****Do you?" Ned threatened with a growl.**

******Otto reached into his wrinkled coat pocket and pulled out a crumbled fifty. He handed it to Ned.**

**"****Anything for the theater," Otto gulped.**

**"****Right," Ned said. He let go of Otto and with patronizing care fixed his collar for him. "I suggest you don't do anyone else any favors for a while."**

**"****Right, pal," Otto said, and with that he took off between the cars, disappearing into the night.**

**"****So you think the guy that paid him off was Nixon?" George asked.**

**"****No. I ****__****know******** the guy that paid him off was Nixon," Nancy replied. "The guy is a scum ball. That was totally low."**

**"****Christ, I hope I'm nowhere near Nixon when you find him," Ned said, shaking his head.**

**"****Why not?"**

**"****Because I'm going to get arrested for beating the living shit out of him."**

******Nancy gave a small, flattered smile. "Let's go."**

******They piled into Ned's car and he drove to the address that Burt had given him. They parked on the street outside the boarding house.**

**"****This the place?" George asked, looking at the quiet house on the quiet street.**

**"****Yup," Ned said. "13756."**

**"****There aren't any lights on. Maybe they're all asleep," Nancy said, not really wanting to go pounding on doors in the middle of the night.**

**"****Why don't we just go eat?" George asked. "I'm still freaking starving. And Bess and Dave are probably all goo, goo, moopy shoopy with each other over a nice fat steak right now."**

**"****Maybe George is right. A lot has gone on tonight and you must be hungry and tired," Ned said, taking Nancy's hand in his gently. "Let's go eat something and I'll pick you up tomorrow and we can check it out early."**

**"****How early?" Nancy asked, caving.**

**"****Really early. As early as you want?"**

**"****Like at seven before anyone would think of going out?"**

**"****Six forty-five."**

**"****Okay, fine. I want a burger."**

**"****You read my mind," George said, sitting back and enjoying the ride.**

******Ned kept his promise and was at Nancy's door at six forty-five. George would've gone with them, but she said she didn't get up this early for anyone, not even some impossible to find heiress. Ned drove to the boarding house once more and parked in front. The two of them climbed the steps and knocked on the door. After a small delay a woman, pretty in a plain way, opened the door and smiled at them.**

**"****Hello, can I help you?" she asked.**

**"****Good morning, we're sorry to bother you so early," Nancy said with a pleasant and convincing smile. "We were looking from one of your tenants. A Ms. Nancy Smith Drew?"**

**"****Miss Drew? You just missed her. She came in late last night and left early this morning to buy an overnight trunk."**

******Before letting disappointment sink into her bones, Nancy asked, "Was she wearing a wedding band when she came in last night?"**

******Mrs. Roderick laughed. "Wedding band? No, not yet. But after her little trip she came back with a shiny new engagement ring on her finger."**

**"****Do you know when she'll be back?" Ned asked.**

**"****Not sure. She went out with a suitcase. Said she was doing a whole lot of shopping to fill it up and take back home."**

******Ned slipped Nancy a glance. Suitcase for shopping? Not likely. Mrs. Roderick caught the look and her face fell. She looked worried now.**

**"****Is something wrong?" she asked.**

******Nancy sighed. "I'm not sure. I've been trying really hard to find Ms. Drew. You see, my name is Nancy Drew too and I got a letter by mistake that was supposed to be for her. I need to find her urgently and tell her what was in it. The most important thing is that she ****__****doesn't******** get married until I talk to her. It's extremely important."**

**"****Was it something bad?"**

**"****No, no, nothing bad in the letter."**

**"****Is there something the matter with her fiancé?" Mrs. Roderick asked, hand to her chest.**

******Nancy gave a small, reassuring smile. "It's nothing bad, just please tell her to call me at this number." She wrote her cell number down on a piece of paper and handed it to the worried woman."**

**"****Ms. Drew's a wonderful woman. Positively lovely. She wouldn't be doing anything bad," Mrs. Roderick said, but it sounded more as if she was trying to convince herself than that.**

**"****Oh no, I'm not accusing her of that at all," Nancy corrected with a smile. "All I'm saying is that she might be jumping into something too fast."**

******Nancy and Ned decided to leave before Mrs. Roderick could ask any more questions and they got in the car. Ned headed back to her dorm to drop her off.**

**"****I have to report to the gym to prep for the game," Ned said, looking at him watch.**

**"****I'll be rooting for you at the top of my lungs," Nancy promised with a smile.**

**"****Promise?"**

**"****Absolutely."**

******Nancy turned to get out of the car, then turned and kissed him passionately. He was surprised but held her hips as she grabbed fistfuls of thick brown hair. After a minute she pulled back, smiling.**

**"****Good luck," she said in a husky voice.**

******Ned was grinning ear to ear as she got out of the car. He backed up and headed towards his own dorm to get changed. Nancy was opening the door to her room when an idea struck her. She was on her phone when George walked into the room, followed by Bess.**

**"****Hey, what are you-?" George asked, but Nancy waved at her to shut up.**

**"****Yes hello? Can I have the Marriage License Bureau for Emerson?" she asked the operator on the phone.**

******Bess and George looked at each other and shrugged. They took a seat on the bed and waited for Nancy to finish.**

**"****Hi, yes, I wanted to know if a license was taken out for Nancy Smith Drew and Edgar Nixon."**

******Bess and George nodded "I got it" nods and listened carefully.**

**"****Nothing?" Nancy repeated, flashing them a thumbs up. "Awesome. Great… no he's not my ex-boyfriend. Whatever, bye."**

******Nancy sunk into the spare chair, biting her lip. She sighed and threw her hands up in the air. "I have no clue where to go from here."**

**"****I have a clue," Bess retorted, standing and pulling Nancy up by the arm. "To lunch. I'm starving and we have to eat now to make it to the game on time."**

**"****For once, I agree with Bess," George said, with a shrug. "Nothing else you can do for now, Nance."**

**"****Yeah. Guess you're right," Nancy agreed and was led to the car by the cousins.**

******They drove to a little restaurant she'd gone to before with Ned which served Greek food. They all ordered and everyone was pleased with their plates. But Nancy lost interest quickly and shifted the remainder of her food with her fork. George and Bess glanced at each other.**

**"****What's wrong?" Bess asked.**

******Nancy shook her head. "I was this close. ****__****This******** close. And I lost her because I didn't want to wake someone up at eleven at night. I could've just knocked. I could've been done with this. She wouldn't be…she wouldn't be marrying a jerk. Or married already."**

**"****Hey, you're doing more than you should be doing for this chick. Don't beat yourself up over this now," George said, waving her self-pity away with a brusque hand. "I'm telling you, if she was named George Smith Fayne and I got that letter, you better believe that I wouldn't have even thought to look her up. I would've tossed it and forgotten about it. What does that tell you?"**

**"****That you're an asshole," Bess replied, eating the last of her cabbage rolls.**

**"****And proud of it, damn it."**

**"****And hey, nobody asked me about my date with Dave last night," Bess said in a huff.**

**"****That's because no one gives a shit," George replied.**

******Nancy laughed, in a much better mood and finished eating. When they got back to the dorm, they changed and headed to the stadium. In the car, Nancy's phone chirped and she picked up.**

**"****Hey Dad," she said with a smile. "I miss you."**

**"****Miss you, too, sweetheart," Carson said from the other line, smiling as well. "I have some news for you."**

**"****Ooh! I love news. What happened?"**

**"****I tracked down the firm that offered to find Nancy Smith Drew so she could claim her inheritance."**

**"****No way! What kind of place was it?" Nancy asked, parking, but staying in the car.**

**"****Scrummy. Not a good place. Not a place I trust at all."**

******She was getting more and more excited. "Maybe the agency story is a total fake. Maybe some other woman's going to appear claiming to be Nancy Smith Drew."**

**"****That is exactly what Mr. Bates-Jones thinks," Carson said with a smile.**

**"****Oh, awesome! You've got to hear this, Dad," Nancy said and she told him everything he'd missed. At the end she paused. "You know, I've been thinking… I'm not sure Nixon's going to marry her at all. I think he's just taking her away from me. He doesn't want me to find her."**

******Carson hesitated, thinking it over. "It's possible. It's a good guess."**

**"****Maybe he has a girlfriend and she's going to pose as Nancy Smith Drew and they'll take the money."**

******Carson laughed. "Okay, okay, overload. Listen I don't want to get you all rewrapped in this. Let it go for a while. Have fun at the game and the dance. And give Ned a big sloppy kissy-poo for me."**

**"****Oh, shut up," Nancy laughed and hung up the phone.**

******The girls got out of the car and Nancy was just finishing explaining Mr. Drew's call to the girls when her name was called out.**

**"****Nancy!" Marian Wilson called out to her again, waving and jogging to catch up.**

**"****Hey Marian," Nancy said with a smile as they continued together. "How've you been?"**

******Marian shrugged. "Hey, Frank's playing today. Mind if I sit with you guys?"**

**"****Not at all," Nancy replied and the other two girls shook their heads.**

******There was already a huge crowd in the stadium. It was an extremely important game against State University and everyone had come to see it. One of the ushers spotted Nancy and she recognized Chuck King as he smiled at her.**

**"****Hey, Ned saved you guys some seats," he said and led them to an ideal spot in center field, close enough to see really well.**

**"****Thanks Chuck, see you later!"**

**"****Hopefully sooner," he called and headed back to his spot.**

******The four girls sat with a couple of seats to spare on either side. They started up chants with the rest of the crowd, even George was into it, laughing and cheering. The referee blew the starting whistle and called the teams over to him. The coin was flipped and the crowd held its breath. The Emerson fans roared as the kick was awarded.**

******The ball sailed through the air and the game started. Blue State U jerseys ran down the field.**

**"****Look! It's Dave! He's catching it!" Bess yelled, leaning forward and whooping.**

******Dave side-stepped a would-be tackler and ran full out down the field. He cut left, the right. Ned gave him a good block and he jumped over the tackled mass and made it thirty yards before he was tackled.**

******The green and white fans in the stands stood from their chairs and roared happily, waving pennants and flags.**

**"****Come on, Ned! Touchdown!" Nancy yelled with a smile.**

******Ned called for the pass and sent the ball rocketing out across the field to a halfback. He tried an end sweep, but it was only good for three yards.**

******Ned tried to pull his tricks, but State U had done their research and scouted him well. Two linebackers charged through the defense and rushed the pass. It fell short and Emerson groaned while State U clapped and cheered. George sent the opposing fans an expressive finger. Fourth down and Ned was having no luck. He dropped the ball for a well-placed punt giving the defenders plenty of time to run down the field. Burt managed to tackle the State receiver and stopped him in his tracks. There was a roar of approval.**

******State fans began their chants as their team got the ball, but they did no better. They had to punt as well in the fourth down. Frank got the ball this time, but instead of running it, he passed to Ned who sped down the field. He was almost untouchable. There was only one man between him and the touchdown. He tried to side-step…**

******WHAM!**

******There was a bone-jarring tackle and Ned fell to the turf twelve feet from the touchdown line. There was a wince and grimace from the Emerson fans. There was a moment before he picked himself up and limped back to the huddle. He leaned on his knees.**

******Nancy was standing, watching him intensely. She saw Burt put a hand on his back and ask him something. Ned shook his head and stood up straight, cracking his back, then nodding. He began to give out orders, then the huddle broke.**

******The lines reformed. The left end faked a run, confusing State and Ned rifled a pass. It was perfect. The receiving end caught it in his arms and clutched it to his chest protectively as he fell over the goal line.**

******Emerson stands were absolute chaos. The wave started over and over again. Bess was jumping up and down yelling, "That was Dave! That was Dave!" George was hugging the people behind her and Nancy and Marian were cheering loudly. Emerson was leading 6-0.**

**"****Come on, Ned, give us the point," Nancy whispered to herself, watching anxiously.**

******Ned was walking back to the huddle and she could see him wincing as he set up for the kick. Her face fell a little as she realized something was a little off. The ball was passed low to Frank and he set it up for the kick. Ned's leg came forward, connected, and sent the ball flying through the air. There was an indeterminable silence as everyone rose from their seats to watch, then an awesome roar… from State.**

******The kick was no good.**

**"****What happened to famous Nickerson's toe?" a State fan behind them yelled. "Better transfer to a college that teaches him how to punt."**

**"****People are going to be asking you what happened to you God damned face if you don't shut it, asshole," George threatened, raising a fist.**

******The State fan sank into his seat as the other Emerson fans leaned in towards him.**

**"****Something's wrong," Nancy said, more to herself, but Marian leaned in to hear him. "He was limping. I think he's hurt."**

******Nancy's heart froze and shattered. She leaned over the railing, gripping it in white knuckled hands.**

**"****NED!"**

******Ned was lying, collapsed on the green turf.**


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

**Dave and Burt motioned for a time out and ran to their friend on the field. The water boy rushed out to the field, followed by the trainer and the sports medicine personnel.**

**"Oh my God, he's down," Nancy said, her voice quivering. "NED! Ned, get up!"**

**"Whoa, whoa, Nance, calm down!" George said, grabbing her shirt from the back as the girl tried to clamber out of her chair and rush to the field.**

**"Nancy… Nancy!" Bess said, grabbing her by the shoulders and looking her in the eye. "Nancy, listen to me. He's going to be fine. Trust me. They're taking care of him. If it was bad, they would've called in an ambulance already, right?"**

**Nancy took in a couple of deep breaths. "Yeah. Yeah. Sorry, I freaked out."**

**Ned opened his eyes after a minute and he was helped off the field supported by the sport medicine trainer and Dave. Nancy leaned forward, trying to get his attention as he passed by, but he disappeared onto the bench and she lost sight of him.**

**"Don't worry, Nancy," Marian said, rubbing the girl's arm. "He's been hurt before and he always pulls out of it and gets back in the game."**

**The game continued, Frank taking on the quarterback position. But Nancy's eyes were on the piece of bench where Ned was. Nothing exciting happened anyway. No scores were made. Halftime was a colorful show with cheerleaders and the marching band, but it was lost on the redhead. Finally, the marching band retreated, the cheerleaders took their spots on the sidelines once more and the players began to flood the field again. And there, leading the Emerson team in, was Ned.**

**Something caught in Nancy's throat and she brought a hand up to her mouth. Her vision was suddenly blurred a bit and she blinked rapidly. She took in a deep breath.**

**"See? He's fine," Bess said with a smile.**

**"Nothing takes down the mighty Nickerson," George added.**

**Nancy gave a small laugh. "Yeah. I've got to go to the bathroom. I'm about to piss myself."**

**She stood and scooted past the row of fans cheering and headed towards the bathrooms. They were relatively empty, no one wanted to miss the game. She stepped into a stall and leaned against the stall door. From deep in her throat a sob broke out and let loose a flood of tears. She clutched at her mouth, trying to stop all those hideous sounds coming from her, but she couldn't. Finally she crumple into a small ball at the foot of the toilet, letting loose all the fear into a pile of uncontrollable sobs. It took about two minutes to stop sniffling and shaking and she finally stood and walked out of the bathroom.**

**"Great," she mumbled, wiping at her face.**

**Her face was puffy and her nose was red, her eyes giving all the telltale signs of hideous, irrepressible crying. She sighed and filled her hands with cold water, splashing her face over and over until she looked somewhat normal. Only a little redness in the nose and she could blame that on the wind. She headed back to her seat and smiled at Marian's concerned face.**

**"What'd you do?" George asked, looking at her. "Fall in?"**

**"Huge line," Nancy said with a roll of her eyes. "A bunch of mom's with screaming children."**

**"Stupid brats."**

**"Yeah, what'd I miss?"**

**"Ned's fine, but they have him benched for now. We could've totally used him because State's at the second yard line and we're trying to hold them back," Bess explained. "Hold that line!"**

**"Yeah, you no-good, sorry, dick-licking bastards! Hold that God damned line!" George added… sweetly.**

**But on the next play State U scored and the cry of the crowd changed.**

**"Block the kick! Block the kick!"**

**George added some creative swearing on her part.**

**The score was now 07-06 in favor of State and the game roared on, the autumn shadows starting to settle over the stadium. A brisk breeze kicked up and tousled the girls' hair. There were three minutes left in the game. Frank was doing good filling in for Ned, but the team was tiring and obviously missed Nickerson's leadership. Emerson managed to get the ball down to State's thirty yard line on third down.**

**"They've got to kick," Marian said, wringing her hands.**

**"Look!" Bess said, pointing.**

**A huge smile crept over Nancy's face as Ned paced angrily back and forth on the sidelines and with a quick word from the coach he grabbed his helmet and ran out to the field.**

**"A kick!" the crowd roared happily, getting to their feet.**

**The sides lined up and the din in the stadium became impossibly loud.**

**"That's way too far," George said, eyeing the distance worriedly.**

**Ned took in a deep breath, head down, bracing himself, then he set himself up. The ball was snapped. Dave set it into place and Ned trotted forward. His foot connected with a dull ****_thud_**** and the ball rocketed into the air, arching in a high flip.**

**"The wind," Bess murmured in a small gasp of air.**

**"He can make it," Nancy replied, her eyes glued to the ball.**

**"It's too far," George said.**

**"He can make it," Nancy repeated.**

**There was a deafening roar of approval as the ball sailed through the goal posts and the referee called a good kick. Three points were put up on the scoreboard, leaving Emerson winning 09-07. There was a rain of confetti on the field and the Emerson players rushed Ned, huddling into a giant, hopping, joyful ball of victory. Ned was hoisted up on shoulders and bobbed up and down.**

**Fans flooded the field, racing over to crowd around the winning team. Nancy and the girls pushed through the crowd.**

**"Ned!" Nancy yelled, breaking through to the players. "Ned!"**

**Ned was sitting on Burt and Derek's shoulders, his sweat-dampened hair clinging to his neck and forehead, his helmet in hand. He caught sight of her and his deliriously happy smile became even more brilliant. He shimmied down from his high post and pushed towards her. Without another thought he scooped her up, pulling her off the ground and he kissed her square on the lips for a long moment and then looked at her.**

**"You won it!" she yelled over the crowd, with a smile. "****_You_**** won the game!"**

**Beside them, everyone was jumping and screaming, their hair and eyelashes catching the falling twinkles of confetti and getting entangled in green and white streamers.**

**The coach managed to tear his players away from the crowd and they filed back into their locker room to change. The girls pushed out of the crowd and off the field, heading back to the main arena doors. They waited for the boys there for the boys to come out. When they did there were hugs all around as Ned, Dave, and Frank beamed proudly.**

**"Where's Burt?" Nancy asked Ned, looking around.**

**"Oh, he got caught up," Dave said with an evil grin. "The drama club girls came to wish him well."**

**Nancy made a face at him which indicated that she didn't believe that this turn of events just came about naturally. Dave grinned wider and gave an evil-genius laugh.**

They all stood in a circle, talking about the outcome of the game. Bess and Dave flirted, George gagged, Marian and Frank stood, oblivious of the inside joke, and Ned and Nancy laughed at the three of them quietly. While Bess was pitching the idea of a pre-dance mini-celebration Nancy shifted, sliding just a little bit closer to Ned and adding just a touch more pressure on his arm. He leaned towards her, listening for what it was she had to say.

"You got hit pretty hard back there," she said softly.

He looked at her, brow drawing in confusion. "Yeah, I guess."

"You must still be in some pain."

"Well, no, not-"

"Because, I was thinking that, you know, we should go back to your dorm and get you to, um," she cleared her throat and looked straight into his now surprised brown eyes, "lie down."

Ned's mouth dropped a little and he stared at her, but she didn't falter.

"-burgers right around the corner," Dave was saying. "Everyone up for it?"

"You know, I still feel really sore," Ned said suddenly, looking over at the others. They all stared at him, surprised at the urgency in his voice. "I think that I'm going to just go lie down for a while. You know, get my strength up for the dance later."

"Okay," Dave drawled. "Have fun. Nancy?"

Nancy shook her head. "Nah. Thanks, though. I think I'm going to help Ned out, you know?"

"Oh, we know," George replied sarcastically.

They stood in awkward silence for a second. Nancy and Ned sighed mutually.

"Well," Ned sighed, wrapping an arm around Nancy. "We're gonna go now."

"Have fun with all that _resting_," Bess smirked.

"Oh, they will," George said, sarcastically again.

Nancy and Ned gave her a little "appreciative" look. Dave, Bess, George, Frank and Marian split off and Nancy and Ned hesitated before they moved towards his dorm. They walked into his room, hand in hand. With his free hand he shut the door behind him and turned to look at her.

She pulled him to her suddenly, their mouths crashing and moving against each other. He was surprised, Nancy wasn't usually so forward. Not that he minded. He collected himself and kissed her back. She pressed closer to him, gripping locks of his hair tightly. He wrapped her up and she expelled a little breath. He was a really good kisser, the kind that made everything else around you kind of fuzzy. She had to remind herself to breathe and she was glad that he was holding her or she was afraid that she might have fallen. Finally, they broke apart, both slightly breathless. Ned licked his lips and started to speak, then stopped. He cleared his throat and tried again.

"That was nice," he said in a rough, hoarse tone. "That was, that was, uh, that was very nice."

Nancy smiled at him, still a little shaky. She shrugged. "I haven't seen you for a while. I missed you."

Ned smiled sweetly. "I missed you too."

He stepped closer to her and kissed her again. This kiss was soft, gentle, the kind that carried a lot of emotion. He pulled back after a second and her eyes fluttered open.

"Um, Dave and Burt," he said softly.

She looked at him. "What? You know, calling out your roommates' names… not as sexy as you think it is."

Ned gave a little laugh and squeezed her tightly for a second. "No, I mean, Dave, well maybe not Dave, but Burt could come home any minute and we're kind of standing right in the way."

"Oh, yeah," Nancy said, looking at the door behind him. She looked at him for an answer.

"We could get out of the way. Okay, I don't mean anything by it, but we could go to my room. I mean, if you want."

He stared at Nancy, waiting. She gave a little smile and a faint nod. He smiled and took her hand, leading her to his room in the back of the dorm.

He'd always known that Nancy didn't hesitate to get what she wanted, but it was the second time that he was caught off guard by her. She kissed him deeply and he tripped over himself a little. She was pressed up against the door. She pushed back against him and he walked backwards with her. He grunted slightly as his knees hit the back of the bed and he fell on his back.

Ned looked up at her, shocked and she minutely raised her eyebrows, a mischievous glint in her eyes. Nancy grinned widely as he gripped her wrist and allowed herself to be pulled down with him. They shifted upwards, their mouths locked until his head was resting under distressed pillows. He held her mouth to his for a long moment, broke, then kissed her again, quick and soft, sighing.

He looked her over. She was slightly flushed, her hair, which had just been mussed up by his eager hands, was sweeping over her cheeks. It hid one of the bright, shining blue eyes that were taking him in just as carefully. He gently pushed her hair back from her face and pinned it behind her ear, his hand staying cupped at the nape of her neck. He ran a rough, calloused thumb over her cheek softly and she closed her eyes, leaning into his open palm. She looked down at him again, a sort of sadness in her eyes.

"You scared me today," she whispered.

His brow came together in concern. "Why?" When he spoke, it was just as softly.

Nancy sighed and leaned closer into his hand. She traced his profile with her finger lightly. "When you went down, I swear my heart stopped beating. I was about to go insane. Ask George, I was about to jump over the railing and go onto the field. She stopped me before I had a chance."

Ned gave a little laugh of appreciation. "Really? You cared that much?"

She nodded, serious. "I started to cry a little when you didn't get up. And when you finally came back after half-time, I had to go to the bathroom so that Bess and George didn't see me totally lose it."

Ned made a soft _tisk_ under his breath, brow furrowed once more. He leaned up and gently pressed his lips to hers in a sweet, tender kiss.

"I never want to make you cry," he said and she knew that he meant it.

She ran her fingers through his hair, stopping at the base of his neck. She mimicked the last kiss, holding it for longer and pressing her forehead to his when she had broken from his mouth. She had her eyes still closed, breathing deeply.

"Don't get hurt and you won't," Nancy told him.

He smiled up at her, enjoying the light pressure of her body against his. He played with the ends of her hair, twirling them idly in his fingertips. He leaned closer, about to kiss her again when the door to his room burst open.

"Hey, Ned, do you know whe – oh, whoa," Burt said, stopping as he drank in the scene.

Nancy buried her head in Ned's shoulder and he sighed, rolling his eyes exasperatingly. The shock had seeped from Burt's face and in its place was a malicious, patronizing amusement. He leaned idly against the doorjamb, ankles crossed, arms following suit and grinning at them. Nancy rolled off of the bed – and, consequently, Ned – and stood, readjusting her shirt.

"I, uh," Nancy started, wiping away the wrinkles and creases on her pants. "I'd better go and get ready for tonight."

Ned had sat up, sitting on the corner of the bed. He nodded and ran a hand through his hair, trying in vain to straighten it.

"I'll see you later. At…?" she asked.

"I'll pick you up at seven," Ned supplied.

"Seven. Perfect. Bye Ned," Nancy said with a smile and turning towards the door. "Burt."

As she passed, she gave him a swift, efficient, and very well-aimed punch in the shoulder. Burt groaned, wincing and rubbing at the spot. He gritted his teeth and shook out his arm in an attempt to ease the sharp pain.

"Ah," he grunted. "She's got a pretty good arm."

"Unless you want to find out how good an arm _I_ have, I suggest you get the hell out of my room," Ned threatened, giving his friend a black look.

The patronizing, teasing grin was once again plastered on Burt's face.

"So," he drawled, savoring the moment. "What were you guys doing?"

He ducked, laughing as Ned threw a pillow at him with surprising force. He straightened and laughed at his friend.

"Oh shit," he cursed, sobering as Ned launched a hardcover novel at his head. He dodged the blow and ran out the door, shutting it behind him and a third, unknown item thudded against the wood panel.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

"So," George said, coming into the bathroom just as Nancy had gotten out of the shower. "How well did Ned _rest_?"

"I know you're just stalling so that you don't get ready. Push your luck and I'll call Bess in here to drag you away," Nancy threatened, towel drying her hair in her underwear.

"Aren't we testy. God. So how's he feeling, on a real note?"

"He's okay. Knocked the wind out of him and then he kept playing and he couldn't really catch his breath. He's fine now."

"How long did you cry in the bathroom?" George asked, picking up one of Bess's three perfume bottles and turning it over in her hand.

"I did not cry in the bathroom," Nancy said in an outraged tone. She suddenly realized that trying to be convincing was much harder when she was in bra and panties and George was fully clothed. Like if the amount of clothes she had on made a difference.

"That long, huh?" George snickered. "And then you say you're not dating."

"You're so ridiculous," Nancy said, standing at the bathroom vanity and brushing out her hair.

"Uh huh. Nice panties. Planning on anyone seeing them tonight?"

"That's it. BESS! George isn't getting dressed!" Nancy yelled across the hall into George and Bess's shared room.

Bess stomped out of her room, her hair half blow-dried and in underwear as well, grabbed George's arm, and pushed her into the shower as Nancy stepped out of the bathroom.

"You're a dirty bitch, Nancy Drew," George hissed and followed along reluctantly.

Bess gave her a look and then shrugged it off. "As soon as I'm done with my hair, want me to blow-dry yours?"

"Thanks," Nancy said, turning into her room to get dressed in the meantime.

"So. How was Ned's _resting_ time?"

"Don't you start too. I'll ruin your hair."

"Bitch."

Ned showed up at their dorm at seven and the girls were ready. He was dressed in a crisp, black suit and looked like a Calvin Kline model. Nancy was in a very feminine white dress with a subtly embellished, strapless bodice and a gently flowing skirt. Bess had on a pretty sky blue gown with a slit on one leg and a low back with crisscrosses over her back, serving as the gowns straps. He looked them over with a smile and his eyes lingered on Nancy as he spoke.

"You guys look great," he said in a small voice. He shook himself out of it and looked around. "Hey, where's George?"

Bess sighed and rolled her eyes. "George, get out here. Come on, ass head, hurry up!"

"I don't want to," George yelled back through the room door.

"Come on, George," Nancy begged. "You look great. Come out."

"No."

"I'm going to send Ned in there to get you," her cousin threatened.

"I'll do it, George," Ned said with a devious smile. "I'll go in there."

There were some angry mumbles and then George opened the door and stepped out angrily.

"Holy shit, George, you look awesome," Ned said honestly, somewhat surprised.

"Yeah, shove it," she mumbled.

But she did look awesome. Bess beamed with pride at her creation. She was wearing a bluish-green halter-neck gown with a cowl neck in the front and a low cowl neck in the back that ended at the base of her spine. She scowled at them.

"I hate you," she said. "I hate you all."

"You hate us, but you look good," Bess said. "Now come on, we're going to be late."

"I can't believe I'm doing this," George muttered unhappily, shifting in the backseat of Ned's car.

Ned grinned at her through the rearview mirror. "Come on, George, you look great."

"Yeah, yeah," she scoffed. "Shut up."

They arrived at the finely decorated hall where they were having the dance. Ned parked and they all got out of the car. They walked into the gaggle of other Emerson students and headed up the stairs. After they'd made it inside, they stood, admiring the nicely decorated room. There was nice array of music blasting through the background. George stood beside her cousin, fidgeting uncomfortably.

"What are we waiting for?" she snapped.

Ned seemed to find George angry funny because his smile widened. "Nothing. The guys are here."

From the masses of students emerged two boys. Dave stepped forward ahead of the other boy and smiled widely.

"Hello all," he said, waving. He stopped, looking over Bess. She smirked, shifting in a way that flattered the shape of her body. "Wow. You look… hideous."

She shoved him with a laugh. "Shut up."

"I'm just joking. You look great."

"Well, now that we're all nauseous," Ned said, shoving past the couple and towards a still angry George. He pulled the second boy forward. "George, this is my friend Burt."

George looked over the boy in question as the others fell into their own conversations. He was the shortest of the three, about average height, saved from being too short by an inch or two. However, he was better built than the other two. Where Ned and Dave were leaner, he was more muscle tone and definition. He had beautiful, shining blond hair and bright blue eyes. He was very masculine, giving off an intoxicating aura of sex. George sagged.

"You're my date?" she stated firmly. "_You_ are my date."

"Looks like it," Burt replied, hands in pockets, adding the cherry to the perfectly assembled sundae.

George gave an overly fake laugh. "That's just… Nancy? A word," she ground out, pulling the redhead to the side.

Bess was laughing at something that Dave was saying and pushing a strand of her blond hair behind her ear.

"Ow!" Bess yelped with a wince as George grabbed and squeezed her arm, pulling her along with them. Bess tore her arm free. "What's your problem?"

"He, he, he, he, _he_ is my date?!" George exclaimed, outraged.

"Yeah," Nancy replied, looking over at Burt who was glancing at them, confused and unsure.

"Did you see the blond hair, the blue eyes, the nice smile, the amazing body? What's wrong with him?" Bess asked.

"He's gorgeous!" George yelled, outraged.

"You're going to have to help me out here, George," Nancy said, confused.

"Yeah, he's a hot football player. It's not like he's some loser, acne-encrusted dork," Bess put in.

"No, it's worse than that!" George said, stomping, frustrated. "I would have preferred the acne-encrusted dork."

"Okay, you have horrible taste."

"If I got some loser, I would know that _I _was the one stooping to help out some pathetic friend of Ned's. But you gave me this God-sent, football-playing angel and now _everyone_ will know that he's the one doing the stooping to help out his roommate's girlfriend's – and don't you deny it – pathetic, dateless friend."

"That is not true… on so many levels," Nancy said.

"You don't think that a guy like that is recognized across campus?" George disagreed. "You don't think that he's admired, and worshiped, and loved? You don't think that every straight, single female knows his dating status? You don't think that everyone in there will think exactly what I told you they're going to think? Look, I can't do this. I am going home."

"You can't go home, you came in Nancy's car," Bess snapped.

"Well, then, I'm going back to the dorm," George spat back venomously.

"You can't go back to the dorm."

"Why not?"

"Because I have the key," Bess stated firmly and walked away.

Nancy looked from one cousin, to the other, then back. She made a quick decision and trailed quickly after Bess. George watched both of them saunter away, and then her gaze fell on Burt who was politely, and confusedly, waiting for her by the entrance.

George sighed. "Son of a bitch."

The others left the two of them standing there. Burt gave her a smile.

"Want to go in?" he asked, cocking his head towards the entrance.

George stared at him in disdain, then glared and walked past him. He stood, still staring at the spot where she'd been, then he raised his brow and sighed.

"Sure, I'll walk in with you," he said under his breath.

The others had already started attacking the buffet and Bess was reserving a table. Burt turned to George and tried again.

"Want to eat or something?" he asked.

George rolled her eyes a little. "Sure, whatever."

"Okay," Burt drawled, stepping into line behind Ned and Dave.

The dance was filled with sudden bursts of chants and cheers for the winning team and dancing in between. Dave and Bess were almost constantly on the dance floor and Nancy and Ned shifted from table to table, saying hello and catching up. George and Burt sat at their table, George twirling her empty drink cup in her hands. At one point, Burt got up and left her for a few minutes and she thought he'd finally given up on the whole stupid blind date set up, but he returned with a full drink glass and replaced it for her. She felt a little sting of guilt.

"Thanks," she said, looking up at him for a second.

He smiled brightly. "No problem."

Bess and Dave sat next to them.

"God, I'm so tired," Bess said, fanning herself.

"Well, you don't have to dance every song," Dave told her.

"Hey, you're the one who keeps going!"

A mock fight broke out next to them and George gagged. Burt laughed under his breath and caught her eye.

"Want to dance?" he asked.

George cringed. "Uh, you know-"

She stifled a cry of pain as Bess kicked her with her heel under the table. George glared at her cousin.

"Yeah. Sure. Why the hell not?" she said through clenched teeth.

Burt stood and led her to the dance floor. Ned and Nancy joined the other couple at the table.

"How they doing?" Ned asked.

"I think George is about to stab someone in the eye with a plastic fork," Dave said. "But I haven't known her long enough to read her right."

"No, I think you pegged her," Nancy said with a laugh as she realized that George was dancing the entire time, subtly giving them the finger.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

The dance went long, everyone enjoying themselves and lingering at the dance floor. The college, happy to have won the game, obliged and kept the music going. It was near one in the morning and they were playing slow songs now. Both Nancy and Ned, and Bess and Dave were dancing, cradled in each other's arms. Head resting tenderly on shoulders. Burt had excused himself for a minute to talk to some of the football players and friends.. George had taken the opportunity to make a run for it. She knew that through the open balcony there was a flight of steps that led down to the garden. She could get out now and not have to look back. But as soon as she got to the balcony, she slowed. Instead of leaping to freedom, she leaned against the banister and looked up at the gorgeous night sky.

George looked from the corner of her eye, but made no move as Burt positioned himself on the balcony beside her. They stood on the small terrace, looking over the beautifully kept gardens behind the Emerson mess hall in silence. Burt shifted slightly and ran a hand over his hair, the thick locks lifting, then flittering perfectly back over his forehead.

"Look," he started, not looking at the girl. "I _really_ don't know what's wrong… really… but, whatever it is, I'm sorry. I think we kind of started off on the wrong foot."

George said nothing, just sighed to herself and rolled her eyes. Great. Now, on top of everything else, he also turns out to be a nice guy. It would've been so much easier if he was a conceited prick like he had the right to be, but no. Life was just not kind enough.

Burt glanced at her quickly, licked his lips, then said, "Can I just ask why it is you hate me?"

George expelled another breath, this one audible and shook her head. "I don't…_hate_ you."

"Oh."

There was another long, palpable silence.

"It's just… don't you hate this?" George asked suddenly.

"Hate what?" Burt asked, turning his head and looking over her profile. She looked softer in the moonlight, her brow at last not furrowed. She was looking up at the blackened sky with an odd spark in her eye.

"This," she repeated and motioned at the air between them, the she glanced back at the couples dancing for a second. "I mean… Nancy and Ned have been 'not dating' for a couple of months now and they're all into each other with the flirting and the double entendres and the sneaking little kisses when they think that no one is watching. And then there's Bess and Dave, who were practically having sex on the football field when they met. And what do we get? Shitty blind dates. It's just not fair, you know? Why can't we get that?"

Burt hesitated, his head bent. "Uh… I didn't have a blind date. I knew I was dating you."

"Hearing bullshit stories about me from Ned doesn't count," George replied.

"No," he said, shaking his head and meeting her gaze. "I mean I _asked_ for a date with you. They didn't tell you?"

George stared at him and saw that he wasn't lying. "Why? I mean, how did you even know who I was, what I looked like…?"

"I saw you with your cousin when you were at Emerson. I have never hated locker duty as much as I did that week," Burt laughed.

"So you saw me. On the football field. With Bess," George said and he nodded to each sentence. She turned back to the railing. "Great. Even better knowing that you settled for me when Bess was taken."

"Bess? Who said anything about Bess?" Burt asked. "I asked about you."

"You think I'm stupid? I have lived my entire life with the girl. I know the _'effect'_ she has on the opposite sex."

"No offense, I mean, your cousin is pretty and all, but she's kind of typical."

"Typical? What do you mean _typical_? My cousin happens to be very pretty."

"Uh, trying to pay you a compliment here," Burt said, waving away the aggressiveness. "All I meant is, you know: blond hair, long legs, lots of sparkly white teeth. Typical. I really did ask about you. I promised Ned fifty bucks if he could get me a date with you."

"You offered to pay to go out with me. Me. Why?" George looked him over, suspiciously.

Burt gave a small smile. He turned to face her, looking into the air around her, not really at her, and gave a shrug that resembled a little-boy. "Because you looked spunky and cool. Plus, the obvious… you were gorgeous and sexy and you had-"

Burt was cut off as George leaned up, grabbed him and kissed him hard. She held the kiss for a few seconds, then pulled away just as abruptly. She guiltily took her hands from his face and stood, mouth open, but no sound coming out. She licked her lips, opened her mouth again, but still nothing came out. She shook her head. Burt was staring down at her, surprised.

"I, uh," George finally stammered. "I… sorry. I didn't mean to just…"

"No. It's, uh…" Burt said, closing his eyes for a moment, then blinking hard. He gave a small, not-that-recuperated smile. "It's okay. Fine."

"Good. Perfect. Fine," George repeated, mentally kicking herself for being such a spaz. There was another tense silence and then she forced out, "Hey, I'm sorry I was such a dick."

Burt nodded. "No problem. Situation fixed."

"Right."

Burt looked over at her from the corner of his eye and stood straight, facing her again. He gave a charming, brilliant smile. "Hey, you want to get out of here? You can get some coffee with me and make up for all your dick-like behavior. We could talk."

George fought to think clearly through the school-girl haze that was enveloping her head. She was about to say something about how they should tell the others they were leaving. That Nancy and Bess would worry if she just disappeared. But all common sense flew out the window as he reached forward and gently took her hand, pulling her softly with him as he took a few steps backwards towards the stairs at the end of the terrace, leading down to the gardens.

"Come on," he said softly, cocking his head towards the exit.

"Okay," George murmured, hypnotized.

Burt gave a beautiful, wide grin.

"Oh my God!" Bess squeal as the group tumbled out of the gym together. "That was so fun. I had such a great time."

"Totally," Nancy agreed, laughing as they sauntered towards the cars. "This has to be one of Emerson's best dances ever."

"Glad you had fun," Dave said, slipping an arm around Bess. "And you didn't want to come with me."

"Who says _you_ made it fun?" Bess teases, giving him a look. Dave just rolled his eyes as they reached the cars.

"Hey, where's George?" Ned asked, looking around.

"I don't know. Did we leave her inside?" Nancy asked, tippy-toeing to try and see back towards the gym.

"I don't think so," Bess said, with a smug little smile. "Where's Burt?"

"You think this whole crazy-ass plan worked?" Ned asked.

"You know Burt," Dave explained with a shrug. "He always gets the girl. Even when she's sending him death glares over the dance floor."

"Charming bastard," Ned said with a disbelieving shake of his head.

"Yeah. That charming bastard left me without a freaking ride," Dave said, looking for the car. "Looks like I'm bumming a ride with you guys."

They headed to the sorority house the girls were staying at to drop them off. As they pulled in, Ned slapped his pockets and hung his head.

"Shit," he said.

"What happened?" Nancy asked.

"I think I left my wallet in the – no, wait! I took it out inside when we were waiting for George because it was bothering me. It's on the end table. I was wondering why I was so comfortable all night. Mind if I get it?"

"Sure, why not?"

Nancy and Ned stepped inside and headed to the girls' dorm. Bess and Dave lingered on the porch. She reached the door and turned to Dave with a smile.

"I had fun," she said coyly. "Thanks for convincing me to come."

"Let me take you out tomorrow," he said, stepping towards her and gently pushing a stray blond lock of hair behind her ear.

Bess shrugged, trying to control a shiver as his fingers brushed her ear. She looked up at him with her baby blues. "I don't know, I have to think about it."

"No you don't," Dave said with a small smile. "Lunch. Before you have to go."

"It's late, Dave," she said, wanting to stick to her plan and finding it increasingly hard. She reached behind her and twisted the knob, pulling the door open. "I should go."

Dave leaned an arm against the door, shutting it once again and letting the motion bring him closer to her so that she was backed up against the door. In one smooth movement, he leaned down and brought his lips to hers in a soft and lingering kiss. He parted his lips slightly and she took in a breath. She tasted just the faintest little bit of him, then he broke the kiss and looked at her with his piercing green eyes.

"Go to lunch with me tomorrow," he said again softly.

Bess nodded faintly. "Okay."

Dave gave a brilliant, crooked smile and straightened. "Great. Sweet dreams, Bess."

Bess was trying hard not to squeal and she bit her lip, smiling. "Good night."

Upstairs, Nancy was running her hands through her hair, trying to straighten her hair out after being pushed up against a wall. She fixed the flowing skirt of her dress. She heard the main door crack open down stairs and she licked her lips. Ned was grinning at her, looking none-the-worse for wear. Sure his hair was a little mussed, but that made him look, if anything, even sexier. She felt her heart start up again and she licked her lip once more. Without thinking, she lunged at him and their mouths connected. Another minute passed before they heard the door open again and the click of heels in the downstairs foyer. They broke once more, even more out of breath and Nancy started looking around frantically.

"Where's your wallet?" she asked. "It's not here."

He grinned wider and pulled his wallet from his back pocket. "You mean this?"

She looked up at him and put two and two together. "You're bad."

"What? We were going to do this outside, right next to Dave and Bess? Hell no."

Nancy smiled at him and gave him a quick couple of kisses as the clicking came up the stairs. Finally, Ned turned and walked out of the dorm. He ran into Bess at the top of the stairs.

"Night, Bess," he said with a wave.

"Night," she replied in a daze.

She opened the door, her eyes glazed happily, not even realizing Nancy's disheveled appearance and she turned to go to her room.

"You okay?" Nancy asked, giving her a look.

Bess smiled to herself. "Perfect."

"Okay…"


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

George stepped onto the dimly lit porch of the sorority house and turned to look at Burt with a smile.

"Thanks for the coffee," George said. "The night didn't blow as bad as I thought it was going to."

"Ah, you know just the things to say to have men falling at your feet," Burt said sarcastically and she gave a small laugh.

There was a slight hesitation and then she looked up at him. "When you asked why I hated you and I said I didn't… I kind of lied."

Burt sucked in a breath, placed his hands firmly in his pockets and braced himself. "Okay…"

"It's not exactly that I hated _you_, per say. It's more that I hated what you represented. I thought that you would think that I was just this pathetic loser friend of Nancy's that you were doing this whole huge favor for. So I made damn sure that you knew that this whole date thing was definitely _not_ my idea. This was, of course, back when I thought that we'd been set up for a blind date."

"But you're fine with me now, right?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Just one more question. I mean, technically we were both being set up on a blind date. So, why would I have thought that _you_ were the pathetic loser?" Burt asked.

George scoffed. "Have you looked in a mirror recently? Goddamn, look at you. You're smoking. You've got the eyes, the body, the smile, the hair, the freaking halo practically. And, on top of that, you turn out to be this amazing kisser who-"

His interruption, unlike hers, was not abrupt and impulsive. It had been thought through meticulously and was, for that one reason, much more dangerous. His kiss was soft and tantalizing, the slight pressure of his mouth against hers teasing. It created a heady, sweaty air around them, but gave her enough time to think and part her lips, kissing him back. The kiss deepened, wonderfully deep, and he pulled her closer. The softness was replaced by a sudden urgency that they were both all too willing to comply with. She held on tightly to his crisp, white shirt, wrinkling it beneath her eager fingers. He had only one hand on the smooth satin of her hip. Finally, Burt pulled up, but didn't pull away. His forehead was lightly touching hers, blond hair meshing with black. He waited the few long seconds it took for George to open her eyes and met her gaze, holding it tauntingly.

"Sorry," he said, the smile in his voice telling her that he didn't mean it at all.

"Oh, shut up," George replied, her fingers intertwining in the thick blond locks and pulling him down by the nape of his neck again.

He followed along complacently and kissed her again. This time, his other hand snaked out of his pocket and he held her to him desperately, the feel of his fingers pressing into her exposed back driving them both wild. They lost themselves to this for another few, long minutes, then pulled back, slightly breathless.

"So, can I call you tomorrow morning?" Burt asked.

George desperately wanted to say something sarcastic and cutting, but she was still hazy from the kiss. The air around her head was too thick, his presence too overpowering and the only thing she could think to respond was a raspy, breathy, "Sure."

Burt gave a pleased, knowing smile. "I'll call you," he said softly, detangling himself from her and stepping back.

"Sure," George repeated, a goofy grin spreading over her face. It wasn't until he was a couple of paces away and the air began to clear that she realized something. "Don't you need my number, Fabio?"

"I can get your number," Burt replied confidently, opening his car door without turning.

"Want to bet on that, Casanova?" George taunted, cocking an eyebrow.

Burt froze, open door in hand. He closed the car door, turned and walked back. He stopped dangerously close and looked down at her. She didn't waver.

"I'm intrigued," he said. "Go on."

"I'll bet you dinner tomorrow night that you can't get my number by morning," George said in a low voice, swallowing the school-girl butterflies in her stomach.

Burt said nothing for a few seconds. Then, he slowly leaned down, stopping just centimeters away from her mouth, so close that she could just feel his lips when he spoke.

"I'll bet you breakfast and two dinners… that I can," he whispered.

George gave a small smile, her eyes darting to meet his gaze. "You're on."

He reciprocated her smile and closed the minimal gap between them. He held for a short, sweet kiss as a confirmation of the bet, broke, pressed his lips to hers once more, then parted. Burt walked back to his car with a flick of his wrist at her over his shoulder.

"See you tomorrow morning," he called back.

"Yeah, we'll see," George replied.

She watched, biting her lip, until his taillights disappeared towards his fraternity, then turned and ran into the sorority house. The girls had left the dorm unlocked for her and she absently closed the door behind herself. She burst frantically into her dorm and into one of the rooms.

"Nancy! Nancy, get up," she said in an urgent voice. She shook her sleeping friend.

"What? What?" Nancy called, opening her eyes and looking up at her friend, scared and confused.

"You need to call Ned," George told her, a desperate look in her eyes.

"What? Why? What happened?" Nancy asked, frightened.

"You need to call Ned and give him my number," George urged.

Nancy groaned and sagged back onto her pillow. "Why the hell do I have to do that?"

"Because I won't let you sleep until you do. Come on, please! It's important."

"Fine. God, I hate you. You're such a douche bag," Nancy murmured angrily, grabbing the phone that was lying beside her on the bed and pressing down a speed dial number.

George scoffed. "And then you say you're not dating," she said, shaking her head and crossing her arms.

"You want me to do this or not?" Nancy threatened and George gave a pleading smile. "Ned? Hey. Yeah, I know its super late, but George just burst in and…"

Nancy stalled as George waved her arms frantically, giving her signals not to explain.

"…and, uh, I remembered that I, um… I forgot to bring my charger and my phone is about to die… Yes, yes it is odd that George would inspire such thoughts… Anyway, look, just take down her cell number so that you can call me later. Yeah. Ready? It's 555-4674. Okay, great. Good night." She glared up at George. "Happy?"

"Extremely," George said, kissing Nancy's cheek ecstatically. "Thank you. I love you."

Nancy just raised her middle finger and George laughed, practically skipping out of the room.

"Hey, wait, hold on," Nancy called, propping herself up on one elbow as George opened the door to go. "What's going on?"

George paused, a smile slowly creeping across her face brightly. "I just lost a bet."

Nancy watched her friend go, confused, then sighed and flopped back onto her pillow.

George muttered angrily as the sound of her phone ringing brought her out of her deep stupor. She grabbed at it, eyes still closed and wretched it open, cursing under her breath.

"So," a welcome, familiar voice said over the phone. "Do you like pancakes or French toast?"

An instant smile spread over her face as she remembered the events of last night.

"I like anything that is off campus," George replied.

Burt grinned. "French toast it is."

George was supposed to meet Burt next to the gym where the dance had been last night. She was cutting across one of the playing fields where there were several students congregated, talking about last night's game and gossiping. George was just walking by a gaggle of girls, flipping their ponytails and smacking their gum when something they said made her slow down and listen.

"-can't believe it. It's got to be fake," one of the girls said.

"I swear it! I heard him myself! Burt Eddleton is _gay_."

George almost swallowed her tongue. Gay? He sure as hell didn't look gay. Didn't kiss gay either.

"What do you mean you heard him? He told you?"

"Paul Finks was asking him if he was seeing anyone lately and Burt was totally like, 'Sort of.' And then Paul was like, 'Oh my God, give me the name, bro.' And Burt was like, 'George Fayne.'"

"Oh my God!" the three girls squealed, giggling. George lowered her head a little and hid a blush.

"What a waste," one of them said, blowing a bubble. "Burt's hot as shit."

"Yeah. Guess he finally ran out of girls. Had to stoop to dating guys."

The girls giggled again and George hurried on. Burt was waiting in his car. He opened the door for her.

"Hey," he said with a mind-blowing smile. "What took you so long?"

George shrugged, leaning back in the seat of his car. "Traffic."

Burt looked confused, but said nothing. He drove through the town and can to a stop at a small, sleepy breakfast and lunch restaurant and parked. He parked, came around, and opened the door for her with a smile. They went inside.

George didn't even try to think up something to say, she was concentrating too hard on making it appear like she was breathing normally. What switch had flipped in her head? Last night, he had been this burden, this absolute terror and she did very well ignoring him and his raw sexuality. But now she felt like she was almost orbiting around him, his pull too strong to resist. She watched, entranced as he gave a casual, beautiful smile to the hostess and then looked at her, the smile more meaningful and he motioned for her to go in front. She sat at the table, giving the hostess a little nod of acknowledgment. The high-schooler was looking over Burt and trying to suppress her urge to drool. She gave George a smile of approval and then left them alone.

Burt sat down in front of her and watched as she opened the menu to glance at the entrees.

"So," he started casually. "Do you always throw bets or am I just special?"

George looked up suddenly, adrenaline pumping through her veins. She feigned innocence. "What?"

Burt gave a little grin. "Yeah, okay."

"I don't know what you mean. I lost the bet. How did you get my number anyway?"

Burt played along. "From Ned."

George made an appropriately long pause. "Shit. I forgot he had my number."

"Yeah," Burt said, scratching at an initial carved into the wood of the table with his thumb. "I just thought it was odd, you know?"

"What was odd?"

"The fact that he was grumbling about this being the second time he was woken up for your 'stupid number.' I got a little curious and asked what all that was about. He said that Nancy had called not ten minutes ago to give him your number. Yeah, she said that he wanted him to be able to get in contact with him and her phone was dying. Turns out she forgot her phone charger. The same phone charger he helped her unpack and plug in two mornings ago." He looked her straight in the eye as he finished off his sentence.

She avoided his gaze and shoved her face into the menu. "So what are you going to get?"

Burt just gave a little laugh and grabbed his own menu. They ordered after that, handing the menus over to the overly peppy waiter. Their drinks were brought out soon afterwards.

After the initial awkwardness disappeared for George, the date became really enjoyable. Burt was hilarious and sarcastic, two things she liked a lot about him and he seemed really genuine. She started telling him stories of her and Nancy and Bess when they were kids and the stupid scams they'd get into. She managed to make him laugh until his sides hurt.

"This has to be the best date I've ever been on," Burt said, still laughing.

George hesitated, focusing intently on the cup of hot chocolate in front of her. "I'm flattered… especially since I've heard that there've been a whole lot of them."

Burt took in a deep breath and ran his finger over the rim of his orange juice. "Yeah, well… resentful news travels quickly, I see."

George laughed and waved his black mood away. "Don't look so damn worried. I don't care. What? Am I supposed to expect that you've never gone on a date before me? I've been a quite a few myself, most of them… well, shitty, but whatever. Besides, do I really _look_ like the kind of person who cares about that kind of bullshit? I'm fine with it. I didn't expect monogamy on our first date. Well, our first real date. And anyway, I'm not exactly the type to go home and worry about when you're going to call me."

"But I want you to," he said quickly, meeting her gaze, something urgent and pleading in his gorgeous blue eyes.

"Kind of selfish, aren't you?"

"You know what I mean," he said, shaking his head seriously, but never breaking her gaze. He hesitated nervously and licked his lips before speaking again. "Okay, look. I know that this is going to sound like a pile of pretentious horseshit, which is why I intentionally wanted to hold off on it for a while more until I was certain that you were in too deep to pull out, but… the truth is, I like you. I like you a lot. As in, I have _never_ liked someone so much I've wanted an actual relationship with them, but I do with you.

"Something has to be right when I couldn't breathe when I saw you for the first time on the field and I still get nervous talking to you because I know that I must sound like a total idiot asshole. So, yeah, I want you to go home and wonder when I going to call. I want you to worry when it isn't in the next two hours. I want to date you. Not go on dates with you, date you, like exclusively. Just me and you. Kind of like Ned and Nancy, only, you know, actually admitting to it. I mean, you can always pull out if you don't like where it's going."

George hesitated, biting her lip and wondering what in the world to say. She could feel his eyes on her. He watched her, waiting, a vice tightening over his heart, making it hard to breathe as she dragged the seconds out in silence. Finally, she looked up, met his worried gaze and gave a bright, clear, devious smile.

"I do love a great escape," she said in a taunting tone.

He threw a hash brown at her. "Stupid punk."


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Nancy was setting her clothes carefully in her suitcase, going back and forth from dresser to closet and then to her suitcase again. She walked around Ned to get to the bathroom. On her way back she had her toothbrush, comb, and bath paraphernalia in her arms. She maneuvered around Ned again who was standing, hands in jean pockets, watching.

"I thought you were supposed to help me pack," Nancy said, grabbing a pair of her shoes and adjusting them in the bag. "You're just standing there."

"And help you leave?" Ned asked, watching her make another trip to the closet. "Why would I do that?"

Nancy laughed and straightened. "Come on, I'll see you next weekend."

"But that's so far," Ned whined, making a face. "Just stay here for the rest of the summer. Carmen won't mind."

Nancy laughed again and wedged another pair of shoes into her bag. There was a knock on the dorm door and she went to answer it, Ned following her. She opened up to one of the head sorority sisters, Leslie Daee. Leslie smiled.

"Hey Nancy," she said. "Last day, huh?"

"Yeah, I'm almost done packing. We leave tonight after dinner," Nancy replied. "Thanks again for letting us stay here. It's really a great dorm."

"About that, I know that Ned told us you were starting us next semester, right?" After Nancy nodded, Leslie continued, "Well, all of us were talking and we decided that you three girls are welcome to join the Omega Chi Epsilon sisterhood. You could keep this room when you come. We already asked Carmen and she had no problem holding the room until next term. What do you say?"

Nancy gave a broad smile. She'd gotten to like the girls of the dorm a lot and was blown away by the proposition. "I'm honored. Thanks. I think I can speak for Bess and George that we'd love to be Omega Chi Epsilons."

"Perfect. I'm sure all the other girls will be ecstatic. Have a good trip back, Nancy. See you soon!"

"Bye, Leslie, thank you," Nancy called after the girl as she waved over her shoulder, heading down the stairs to her dorm.

Nancy closed the door, turned slowly and smiled at Ned.

"This is so awesome! Oh my God, I'm so excited!" Nancy said as Ned hugged her happily.

"A couple of weeks and you'll live super close to me," Ned said with a smile, holding her still.

She laughed and struggling unconvincingly. "Come on, Ned, let go, I've got to finish packing."

"No."

"Come on, please. You're being a punk."

"Yes."

Nancy laughed again and stopped struggling as Ned leaned closer to kiss her. He sighed and his head drooped onto Nancy's shoulder as her cell rang from in her pocket. He was still holding her as she reached into her pocket and snapped the phone open.

"Hello?" she said into the phone unenthusiastically.

"Nancy?" came the urgent, frightened voice over the phone.

"Hannah? What's wrong? Are you okay?" Nancy said, clutching the phone.

Ned had lifted his head and was now looking down at Nancy, concerned.

"I'm fine and your father's okay, too. It's Ira," Hannah said over the line. "The poor man. His horrible brother came last night and robbed him blind."

"What?!" Nancy exclaimed into the phone.

"I went this morning to see him, he's still pretty weak you know. He was all shook up. He said Edgar came late last night and pounded on the door until Ira opened. Then he started yelling at the man, calling him horrible names and demanding money. He ransacked the place, threw things around, broke things. He never even asked how his brother was feeling."

Nancy rolled her eyes. Like if _that_ was issue in that scenario. "He wanted the inheritance money?"

"No, not even! He called Ira a miser. Said that he was positive he had money hidden away and that he wanted it. Ira didn't answer him, that's when Edgar started tearing up the house. He… he hit him. His own brother. He hit him a lot. The poor man…"

Nancy's blood boiled. Her face set into a stone cold mask. "Did he find any money?"

"That's the worst part. Ira did have money in the house. I told the man over and over to put it in a bank, in a savings account, but he didn't listen."

"How much?"

"Three thousand five hundred."

"Shit," Nancy muttered, banging the wall with her fist. "What did the police say?"

"He didn't call the police. He refuses to and he wouldn't let me."

"He didn't – what is he, crazy? There is no God damn way in hell I'm letting this slide."

"What are you going to do, Nancy?" Hannah asked, a little calmer now that she had spoken to someone.

"Have you talked to Dad?" Nancy asked.

"Sort of. I was so hysterical I don't think he could make much out. He's on his way home now though."

"Listen. Tell him not to do anything until I get this. I'm wrapping this up. Today. And I don't care how mad Ira gets, I'm calling McGinnis. Tell Dad that I'm talking to McGinnis personally too. Call me if anything else happens."

"Okay," Hannah said, taking in a deep breath. "Okay. Be careful, okay?"

"I promise. Love you, Hannah. Just calm down, okay?"

"Okay, love you, too."

Ned was looking at her, brow furrowed as she hung up angrily. "What happened?"

"Nixon's desperate and he's gone too far. I'm getting to close to him for comfort. He beat the crap out of his brother last night and stole three thousand five hundred dollars cash from him. I'm calling Chief McGinnis."

"Who the hell beats up an old man?" Ned said, nostrils flaring.

"McGinnis?" Nancy said into her phone. She told him the whole story and asked him to send some men to Ira's house and investigate.

"You know, Nance," he said in a tired, disgusted voice. "It's not worth jack shit unless Ira gives a statement against him. And he won't. We need a witness."

"Give me a little more time, Chief. He'll make a statement."

"Be careful, kid. Don't do anything stupid."

"I want to help," Ned said from his spot on the edge of the bed as she hung up.

Nancy smiled, suddenly exhausted as all the adrenaline that had been pumping through her system wore off. She smiled sadly at Ned and sat beside him.

"That'd be good, Ned," she said, leaning her head on his shoulder. "I can always use your help."

Ned kissed her hair and stood. "So where to now?"

"Mrs. Roderick. To find Nixon, we have to find Nancy Smith Drew and I want to confirm that she's gone. You never know if she left something behind that'll help us track her down," Nancy said, grabbing her bag and keys.

She wrote out a note that told George and Bess that she left with Ned and left it on their night table. Then she and Ned got in the car and he drove them over to the boarding house. Mrs. Roderick opened after the second knock.

"It's you! Thank God," Roderick said, practically pulling them inside. "I was about to call you, but I couldn't find the paper you gave me with your number. Ever since you stopped by the other day, I couldn't stop worrying about Ms. Drew. I just got home a little while ago and when I went upstairs to change my clothes, I passed her room. The door was open and I noticed the jewelry box she had on the dresser was gone. It was absolutely gorgeous, vintage antique with a beautiful engraved pattern-"

"I'm sorry Mrs. Roderick, what happened?" Nancy said impatiently.

"Right, of course. I thought maybe someone broke in and stole it so I went in to check. I found two weeks room rent on the dresser. Her drawers were empty. She had to have emptied them when I was out because I checked the other day when you came and they were full. She didn't even say goodbye or tell me why she left."

"Mind if we see the room?" Ned asked, beating Nancy to the punch.

"Sure, sure, of course."

Mrs. Roderick led them to the pleasant room, some of the drawers to the dresser and chest still opened. Nancy and Ned looked around. The closet was empty, the bed impeccably made and not a clue to where she'd gone off to in sight.

"Hey, what's this?" Ned asked, picking up a piece of paper on the dresser.

"Oh, that was with the rent, but I figured it was just some scribbles. It makes absolutely no sense," Roderick explained, shrugging it off.

"Let me see," Nancy asked, taking the note from Ned and reading it aloud:

"My mind is troubled, like a fountain stirr'd;

"And I myself see not the bottom of it.

"Striving to better, oft we mar what's well.

"We that are true lovers, run into strange capers.

"Prosperity's the very bond of love.

" …so we profess

"Ourselves to be the slaves of chance.

"Better three hours too soon than a minute too late.

"Travelers must be content.

" It is the stars,

"The stars above us, govern our conditions."

Ned wrinkled his nose. "What the hell does that mean?"

Nancy was still staring at the note. A small smile crept slowly onto her lips. "It's Shakespeare."

"What does it mean?"

The smile grew. "It's a clue. She left us a clue."


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

"What does it mean?" Mrs. Roderick repeated, wringing her hands. "I didn't know she left me a message. I can't make heads or tails of it at all."

Nancy reread the words to herself under her breath. "She believes she's in love."

"Great," Ned muttered.

"With that man, the one you don't want her to marry?" Roderick asked.

"Maybe. But she seems to have doubts. Here, this first one: 'My mind is troubled, like a fountain stirr'd;/And I myself see not the bottom of it.' I think she means that something feels off and she can't figure it out."

"Good. She should have doubts about that guy," Ned said.

"Yeah, well, I don't think she's paying them much attention because it looks like she's going to go ahead anyway. The couple is leaving… travelling somewhere."

"Travelling?" Roderick repeated.

"Holy shit…" Nancy said softly, looking up at Ned. "They're going to England. She's going home to get married. An airplane! They're flying!"

"How do you know it's by plane?" the housekeeper asked, confused. "Why not boat or something?"

"She was talking about the stars governing their condition. She could've mean the weather," Ned guess, getting into it.

"I need an aspirin," Roderick said, rubbing her head. "What about that one, the 'a minute too late' one?"

"She has doubts about the whole thing. Maybe she wants you to come to the airport before she flies and talk her out of it," Nancy said with a shrug.

"I don't even know where she's flying from!"

"I'll bet my weight in gold they're leaving from New York," Nancy said, nodding. Only a big airline, like LAX or Newark, is going to have flights to London. And she knows New York, she's comfortable there."

"I can't go traipsing off to New York!"

"Don't worry, Mrs. Roderick. I think I've got a plan. Mind if we take this with us?"

"Not at all. Please, take it."

"Tell me something, is there anyone around who would've seen Ms. Drew coming and going. Is there someone who can tell me if she came here alone?"

"We're church-going people on this street. Everyone would've been gone."

Nancy just nodded. "Thanks for all your help, Mrs. Roderick."

"Of course. Just, please, when this is all over, drop me a line and let me know what the hell is going on."

Nancy gave a brilliant smile and nodded. "Sure thing. Later."

Nancy and Ned walked down the steps and got in the car.

"Now what?" Ned asked, driving back to the sorority house. "Any bright ideas?"

"Yeah. Call all the major airlines in New York and find where there reservations were made," Nancy said.

They walked into the sorority house and went to Nancy's room. When they walked in they were faced with their friends.

"What the hell happened?" George asked. "You didn't pick up your phone."

Nancy apologized, bolting for the phone and started dialing while explaining the whole story about Ira Nixon. She stopped for a second to talk to the girl at the airline and was placed on hold. She told them about Mrs. Roderick and the note.

"I've got unlimited long distance on my phone," Dave said, whipping out his cell and dialing another airport.

Soon enough, everyone was involved in the project, either finding numbers and airline names or calling.

"I got it!" Burt said, jumping up. "I got an Edgar Nixon and Nancy Smith Drew on an 08:15 flight to England, nonstop, from Kennedy." He murmured a thanks on the phone and finished writing the details down.

"Oh my God, Burt, I love you!" Nancy said, kissing his cheek and taking the sheet of paper from him.

"Hey, I just started dating this guy," George said. "At least give me a week to get bored with him."

Burt gave a little laugh that petered out. "Please don't get bored of me in a week."

"We'll see."

Nancy was already on the phone again. "McGinnis! I found him! I know where Edgar Nixon is going to be."

"My God, kid, you're unbelievable," McGinnis said with a smile in his voice. "Give me the details."

Nancy gave him the gate number and the information Burt obtained from the airline. He said he'd call up New York and tell them to make the arrest.

"What about his fiancé? What about Smith Drew?" Nancy asked.

"They've got to ship Nixon over, might as well tell them to ship her on down too."

"Wait, no. The poor woman! She'll be so confused. She hasn't done anything wrong," Nancy said. "What if I went up to meet her? Can you tell the New York officers that I'll take care of Ms. Smith Drew?"

"If you want. If you decide you want to save yourself the trip, give me a call back, kid."

"Thanks, Chief."

"Okay, why do you want to go to New York?" Bess asked, leaning forward and looking at Nancy intently.

"She just needs someone to tip the scale," Nancy said.

"What the hell does that mean?" Burt asked, crossing his arms over his chest, confused.

"I think the reason she wrote her note in Shakespearean quotes is because Nixon was in the room with her and she didn't want him to read it and throw it out. She has doubts and she wants someone to stop her because I don't think she knows how to stop herself. So she wrote out the Shakespeare quotes as a kind of coded message."

"Holy shit, Nancy," Dave said with a grin. "Want to sit in on my Shakespearean Lit class? Maybe you could pull an 'A' for me."

"So what now, Nance?" George asked in a low voice, running a hand through her hair.

"Now we go back home. I need to talk to my dad and I want to make sure Ira's okay when they get his brother into custody," Nancy said. "I guess I should finish packing."

"I packed for you, Nancy," Bess said.

"You're an angel, Bess."

"Guess we'll start packing up the car," Burt said, grabbing George's case and one of Bess's .

Dave took the other two big ones and Bess grabbed the smaller overnight bag. Ned grabbed Nancy's big case and they headed out of the sorority house together. The cases were jammed back into the trunk and the girl's started piling. Dave and Bess were sharing a long, lingering kiss near the back door. George was about to get in, Burt hovering behind her.

"I'll call you tonight," he said.

"Yeah, whatever," George replied, playing on their earlier conversation as she opened the car door.

"Stupid punk," Burt said, grabbing her arm and wheeling around to plant a quick kiss on her, then shoved her into the car.

Ned leaned in through the driver's side window.

"Be careful," he said and kissed her swiftly.

"Promise," she said with a nod.

Ned straightened and Bess slipped into the backseat and patted the door as Nancy backed up. The three boys stood in a line, hands in pockets, watching the car roll away. The trip seemed to take forever and was pretty uneventful. Everyone was caught up in their own tense little thoughts. They didn't even stop for a break. The car crossed into the outskirts of River Heights.

"My God, what kind of dick head hits an old man?" Bess said, still staring out the window.

"What kind of man doesn't call the cops?" George asked in a harsh tone.

"He doesn't want to ruin his brother. They have the same mom, you know, and he probably feels like he's betraying the family," Nancy explained.

"Doesn't mean it's not stupid."

There was another long moment of silence and then Nancy spoke up again.

"I'm going to ask my dad for permission to go to New York and be there when they arrest Edgar Nixon. You girls want to come with me?"

"Hell yeah," George said enthusiastically.

"I guess," Bess said, unenthusiastically.

They both pulled out their cells and called their parents. They got the okay as Nancy was parking in her front driveway. They got off the car, carrying bags into the house with clatters and mutters.

"Nancy?" Hannah's voice sounded out.

"We're home, Hannah," she called out.

They house keeper rushed into the front hall and hugged the girls tightly. Her father trailed in after and gave them a hug too.

"How's Ira?" Bess asked.

"I saw him a while ago. He's better. Has a couple of bruises and a black eye, but he wouldn't let me take him to the hospital and I don't think he'll testify against his brother," Carson said with a shake of his head.

Nancy told him of what had happened at Mrs. Roderick's and asked him about the flight to New York.

"On one condition," he said, holding up a finger. "You stay away from that man. You girls stay with Nancy Smith Drew and get nowhere near Nixon until the police have him in custody."

"Promise," Nancy said with a happy smile.

"I'll my sister and let her know you'll stay with her tonight."

Nancy called the airline to book the soonest flight available. The girls made it to the airport by four o'clock and were on a flight at four thirty and landing in New York by seven. They landed in LaGuardia and had to get over to Kennedy. It took them about half an hour in a taxi and they raced towards the lettered gates.

"Hold on," Nancy said, "My phone is out of service and I want to call my dad and let him know we're here already." She spotted a pay phone. "Wait here, I'll be right back."

Nancy trotted over to the pay phone and put in her quarter to call her dad. He said that Chief McGinnis called to let him know that there were two plainclothesmen with Nixon's picture waiting by the gate to arrest him. If she made them out she was to ignore them. She thanked him, told him she loved him, then hung up, turning to go back to her friends.

"Excuse me, are you Nancy Drew?" a woman asked, stopping her.

"Yes?" Nancy said, confused.

She'd never seen the woman before. The woman was on the short side, with short blond hair and deep brown eyes, very pretty, with a high, musical voice. She gave a somewhat awkward, concerned smile.

"Um, your friend is in the bathroom throwing up. The little brunette asked me to find you," the woman said. "She didn't want to leave the blond girl alone."

"Oh my God, Bess," Nancy said. "Where's the bathroom."

"This way."

Nancy followed the blond woman took off at a jog and they weaved between people, heading towards a woman's room. They burst inside, but the first few stalls were empty.

"Where are they?" Nancy asked.

"At the end, over here," the woman said, keeping up the pace and turning the corner to the next row of stalls.

Nancy followed behind, but there was no one in these stalls either. Nancy's brow furrowed.

"There's no one – oomph!" Nancy grunted, struggling as the woman whipped a handkerchief out of her purse and held it to the redhead's nose.

Nancy noticed a sickly sweet smell and her eyes watered and blurred.

Then there was nothing but darkness as she fell to the floor, unconscious.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

"Where the hell is Nancy? The plane boards in fifteen minutes! We're going to miss the show," George said, looking at her watch, outraged.

"Maybe she called Ned, too?" Bess said with a shrug.

George clenched her jaw and took in a deep breath. "I'm going to grab her by the hair and drag her through this God damned airport if she's making kissy-face with her boyfriend."

"Hey, remember, they 'not dating,'" Bess reminded her cousin, making quotations with her fingers as they headed to the pay phone.

They were all unoccupied. The cousins looked at each other.

"Maybe we missed her?" Bess suggested.

They headed back to the spot where they had been waiting, but she wasn't there either. They were beginning to get frantic now.

"She wouldn't go to the gate without us, would she?" George said, scanning the crowd.

"Let's check the bathroom," Bess said, pointing to the sign in the distance.

The cousins trotted over to the bathroom, but the stalls were empty.

"Nancy?" George called out.

"Nance?" Bess joined in, rounding the corner as George checked stall by stall. She caught the sight of Nancy's shoes poking out from under one of the back stalls and a scream fell from her lips. "George! Come quick!"

"What? What?" George said, rushing to her side. "Shit! We have to get her out of there. Nancy! Nancy, get up!"

George shook the door, but it was locked. Bess was pawing at her friend, trying to pull her out, but she was dead weight. Tears were pooling in Bess's eyes. George pushed her aside roughly and shimmied under the door. She found Nancy's head resting on the toilet seat, slumped. George flicked open the lock and between her and Bess, they managed to slide her out. Bess dragged her to the sink and George took a handful of cold water to throw in the girl's face. Nancy stirred and moaned.

"Nancy!" Bess shrieked, kneeling beside her as her friend opened her eyes.

Nancy groaned and sat up feebly. George was looking at her, concern and anger flashing dangerously in the quick brown eyes.

"What the hell happened to you?" George asked.

Nancy seemed to be coming around quickly and she stood on her own, only slightly dizzy.

"What time is it?" she asked groggily.

"Eight oh five," Bess said, scanning her watch.

"What?! We have to go! Come on," Nancy said, lurching forward.

The first couple of steps were somewhat unbalanced, but slowly Nancy's strength returned as they barreled through the airport towards Gate D.

"You were drugged," George accused, running beside the redhead.

Nancy nodded. "A short woman, late twenties, short blond hair, brown eyes, really pretty. I'm positive she was Nixon's girlfriend or wife. It had to be. Keep an eye out for her."

"Are you sure you want to do this? Shouldn't we just leave this to the police and take you to a doctor or something?" Bess asked, panting to keep up.

"Hell no! After all this, I want to see them arrest that prick."

They burst into the waiting area for Gate D and the initial instinct was to look around.

"Don't!" Nancy said under her breath. "We can't look like we're looking for someone. Give me your hat, George. There aren't a lot of redheads around here and I want to cover up my hair."

George wiped her Red Sox hat from her hair and Nancy scooped the red locks under the cap, hiding her hair completely.

"Okay, Bess, go to the counter, and ask to see if the reservation is still standing. George, check out the passport desk, see if you spot anyone who looks like either Nixon or Drew. I'm going to check out the waiting area."

"Got it," George said, wandering off.

"No problem," Bess answered, heading off to the counter.

Nancy adjusted her cap and walked with her bag towards the seating area, idly glancing around at the other soon-to-be passengers. Nobody looked anything like Nixon or Drew. George was meandering at the passport desk, but she caught Nancy's eye and shook her head slightly. Bess gave a nod that the reservation was still valid, but she hadn't seen them. The cousins stayed in their general area, giving each other room. Nancy took a seat at one of the rows of lumpy, badly-cushioned airplane seats. She glanced at her watch. Five minutes to boarding. Maybe Nixon had outsmarted her again. Maybe his girlfriend had told him to forget the plan and get out of here. Maybe this whole chase was useless and depressing.

It was two minutes to boarding and the stewardess was getting ready to call the passengers onto the plane when Nancy was ready to give up. She was just grabbing her bags to go when a couple rushed past her. The man sat the woman down in a seat a couple of chairs away, whispered something to her and walked past. Nancy followed him with her gaze as he passed.

"Holy shit," she muttered under her breath.

There on his shirt sleeves, was a pair of shocking red cufflinks with black stars in the middle. The conversation with the River Height's jeweler came back to her. She continued watching as he headed towards Bess and the counter. There was no doubt in her mind that he was Edgar Nixon. Nancy whipped her head to her left and glanced at the woman sitting on the bench, wringing her hands nervously in her lap. She was lovely in a fragile, porcelain doll sort of way. She had straight, chestnut brown hair and gorgeous powder blue eyes. She was dressed in an expensive fur and pinned onto it was a brooch that looked very much like it could've come from Whittier's Jewelry. She glanced at the woman's hands, but she was wearing a pair of leather gloves.

Nancy took a chance and slid over to the seat beside her, all the while looking out for the policemen. Maybe that guy by the counter next to Bess in the plaid? She pushed the thought from her head.

"That your boyfriend?" she asked, cocking her head towards Nixon, who making his way to the front of the line.

The woman looked up, a little surprised and followed her gaze. She gave a small, preoccupied smile. "My fiancé."

Nancy whistled. "Haven't tied the knot yet?"

The woman hesitated and Nancy reveled in the pregnant pause. The woman looked down at her gloved hand and ran a finger over a small bump on the third finger of her left hand.

"No, not yet," she said in a small voice.

Nancy looked her over, then glanced back over her shoulder. The man in plaid was definitely a plainclothes and he was starting to move in.

"You're Nancy Smith Drew, aren't you?" she said is a sad, pity-filled voice.

The woman looked up at her, obviously shocked. "How do you know-?"

"You can't marry him, Ms. Drew," Nancy said. "Please, you have to listen to me."

"Wha… who are you?" Nancy Smith Drew said, but she didn't leave. "Leave me alone."

"Did he tell you about the money, Ms. Drew? Did he tell you about the letter?"

"Letter? What money?"

"My name is Nancy Drew from River Heights. I accidentally received a letter that was meant for you. It states that your uncle has passed away and left you a pretty hefty inheritance in London," Nancy said, taking out the letter from her purse and handing it to the shocked woman.

"But what does this have to do with Edgar?" Smith Drew asked after reading through the letter and clutching it in her hands. "How would he know about anything like this? We just a little over a week ago."

"That man is not the man you think he is. He's a crook and thief and a liar. He stole this letter from our mailman, who happens to be his brother, older by thirty years. He runs a mail-based match-making con where he rakes in thousands from innocent women all around the country. And last night he forced himself into his brother's house, beat the shit out of him, and stole three thousand five hundred dollars from him. He lied to you, Ms. Drew. He conned you."

Smith Drew was staring at her, wide-eyed with tears pooling in her eyes. She shook her head, bringing an elegantly gloved hand to her mouth. "It's not true. I don't believe you…"

From the counter there was a suddenly commotion and loud yelling carried through the airport gate.

"Let go of me, you ass-headed pricks! You ain't got no right!" Nixon yelled, trying to tear free of the two plainclothesmen that were cuffing him.

Smith Drew watched in horror. Nixon's gaze clashed with hers, but he made no apologies. He snarled and kept thrashing, protesting the arrest. Nancy's gaze shifted as, in the crowd backing away from him, she spotted the blond woman who had drugged her in the bathroom.

"That's her," she said, more to herself.

"What?" Smith Drew said, sniffling.

The blonde's gaze clashed with Nancy's and the air fizzled. Instantly the woman turned and pushed through the crowd at a run.

"Stay here!' Nancy yelled back at Smith Drew and took off. She pointed. "The blond! She drugged me in the bathroom! Stop her!"

George heard Nancy's yell and turned to look. Like a shot she was off. The blond had a head start on them both and she swerved through the crowd. George was behind her at a dead sprint and Nancy was trailing behind her. The blond had a head start, but she had to push people out of the way, cutting a swath through the crowd and allow George to catch up easily. She caught the woman in a weak tackle and yanked her up.

"What the crap is your deal, bitch?" she yelled, keeping a good grip on the woman.

"Let me go! Help! Help!" the blond was yelling.

"Shut up," George said, rage taking over, and she pulled her fist back and punched her in the nose.

"What's going on here?" a big guard said, coming up to them and holding them both. The blond was clutching at her nose and George was glaring angrily.

"Wait!" Nancy said, catching up. "That woman is wanted by the police."

"Which one, this one?" the guard asked, holding George forward.

"No, not her. _Her_," Nancy said, pointing to the blond. "She drugged me with chloroform in the bathroom and left me there."

"I've never seen that delusional little redhead in my life!" the blond screeched, blood running from her nose.

Nancy took the cap off her head and her hair fell to just below her ears. "How'd you know I was a redhead?"

The blond gaped, caught in her lie. Nancy smiled at the guard.

"Can you bring her over here? There are some plainclothesmen who will take care of her," Nancy said, leading the way back.

"This little one a friend of yours?" the guard asked, looking down at George, amused.

"Yeah. She's just a little…excitable."

George was let go and walked beside Nancy. Edgar Nixon was still struggling, but he was cuffed and was contained by one officer. The guard handed over the bleeding blond.

"This woman drugged the redhead in the bathroom," he said.

"I believe that's Nixon's sister," Nancy accused smugly.

"Girlfriend," the woman snarled, then realized her mistake and hung her head.

Nixon snarled and tried to lunge at the woman, but the officer held him back. The blond cringed from him, but didn't move. They cuffed her too.

"You're Nancy Drew, right?" the man in plaid said.

"Yes," she responded, shaking his out stretched hand.

"What happened to this one? Her nose is broken," the second officer asked, looking at the blond.

"She tripped and fell on her face," George explained, hiding her hand.

"McGinnis told us you'd be here," the first cop said to Nancy. "Pleasure to finally meet the person who put the soft side in that brick wall. Our orders are to hold him tonight and send him over first thing in the morning to River Heights. I'm guessing you'll be doing the same?"

"Yeah, we're staying with my aunt. Thanks officer."

This whole time, Nancy Smith Drew had been standing, waiting in the wings, listening to the whole conversation. But Nixon hadn't even cast her a second glance. Now, as they carted Nixon and his wife away, she sagged. Nancy came up to her and led her to a seat. The three girls all crowded around the heiress and she hung her head. She sighed and looked up with an ironic, sad smile on her lips.

"'But love is blind, and lovers/ cannot see/ The pretty follies that themselves/ commit,'" Smith Drew recited. "Lord, I was so stupid!"

"It's okay, Ms. Drew," Bess said, rubbing her back. "You didn't know."

"The things I did. I let him completely take over my life! I abandoned those poor boys at Emerson. I didn't even say a proper goodbye to Mrs. Roderick."

"But you were at the show, right?" Nancy asked. "One of your former charges, Marian Wilson, she spotted you in the back. You saw the play."

"Yes, it didn't feel right to not watch them. I grabbed my things from my locker as I was leaving, but Edgar was so impatient. I couldn't even stay to tell them I was sorry." Smith Drew hung her head and sighed. "For once in my life, I wanted to do something… something. My friends are always making fun of me. The most organized, planned out actress in the world. And lately, I was thinking of all things that should've been done in my life that weren't. So when Edgar showed up he was so… charming and beautiful and I thought, what the hell? Why can't this be what's right for me? Everything has just gone so wrong."

"But you knew things weren't right. You knew Edgar was wrong for you," George said. "Nancy found your note to Mrs. Roderick. The Shakespearean quotes?"

"He was with you when you wrote them, right?" Nancy asked. "It was a message for Mrs. Roderick."

Smith Drew nodded. "He didn't think much of it because I had been writing out Shakespeare quotes the whole time I was with him. It was the only thing I found peace in, I guess. I left it under the rent money. He didn't want me to leave that either, but I insisted. What the hell do I do now?"

Nancy looked at Gate D, which was recuperating from the scandal. She smiled and turned to the other Nancy.

"You should go," she said.

"What?" Smith Drew asked, sniffling.

"To England. You should go. Now. Tonight. There's so much waiting for you there, and you never know. I'm sure you have friends that would love to see you."

"England," the actress said wistfully. "I haven't been home in so long. A small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth and she stood. "Thank you girls, so much. I guess I had someone looking out for me along… I just didn't know it." She held up the postmarked letter in her hands with Nancy's address with a small laugh. "I'll write you. I'd kind of like to keep in touch."

"Absolutely."

"Hey, have fun, girl and forget about that sleaze bag," Bess said, hugging the girl. "You'll find someone. Enjoy that money."

Smith Drew laughed. "Thanks again."

The three girls grabbed their bags and headed out of the airport and into a taxi, heading towards Eloise Drew's apartment. Nancy's aunt would welcome them.

Nancy caught sight of George's face, which was contorted in pain. She glanced down at her swollen, red fist.

"Holy shit, George! Your hand!" she said.

George winced as she grabbed it and gave a little laugh. "I guess I broke my hand. Punching a bitch hurts."


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

The girl's arrived home a plane ride before they were sending Edgar Nixon over. George's hand was wrapped in a cast and she had been given pain killers. The two girls went home to greet their parents and unpack. Nancy stayed for a while at George's house while she was unpacking, explaining the broken hand to her parents. George's father laughed and slapped a hand to his face.

"George always did have such… finesse," he said.

"Well, what did you expect? You're the one who wanted to name her 'George.' I wanted to name her Melinda," her mother accused.

"Melinda?" Nancy muttered under her breath to herself.

"Okay… and this is where we leave," George said, grabbing Nancy with her good hand and heading towards the door.

"Leave? You just got back!" her mother called out. "Don't you want to just spend the day at home with us?"

"No," George scoffed, heading out the door.

"Menopause is a scary beast," Mr. Fayne said, shaking his head.

"Damn it, Mark, I heard that!" Mrs. Fayne called out from the kitchen.

"Run, kid, run," her father whispered to her.

Nancy and George piled in the car and picked up Bess, who kissed her mom and dad goodbye and got in with them.

"You think we spend too much time together?" Bess asked.

"Nah," George replied.

They pulled into Nancy's driveway and parked. Nancy locked the car and opened the front door.

"Nancy!" her dad called out, hugging her. "I missed you, kiddo."

Nancy laughed and returned the hug. "Me too."

"You did it, baby. You found him. McGinnis says he's on a plane now and should be here in a couple of hours if you want to be there when he's interviewed."

"Do ?" her father responded. The girls all laughed. "Hannah's waiting for you in the kitchen. She's got pie."

"Ooh!" Bess squealed, leading the way.

A second later there was a screech of joy and George and Nancy looked at each other.

"Bess likes pie way too much," George said, shaking her head.

Nancy nodded gravely as the joyful cries continued. "_Way_ too much."

The two girls stopped short in the kitchen entrance, gaping.

"I hope you guys like pie. Cutie pie," Burt said jokingly, motioning over himself.

Ned rolled his eyes and smiled. Dave was a bit preoccupied at the moment with Bess.

The other two girls ran forward and hugged the boys. George smiled into Burt's kiss and laughed when they parted. He grabbed the hand with the cast on it and gave it a questioning look.

"What the hell happened to you?" he asked.

"I punched some stupid bitch," she responded, shrugging.

"I leave you alone for one day…"

"Hey, she drugged Nancy in the bathroom!"

"What?!" all three boys exclaimed, looking at Nancy.

"What exactly happened yesterday?" Ned asked, sitting down with Nancy.

Dave and Bess sank into chairs next to them. Burt leaned against the countertop with his arms around George as she leaned into him. Between the three of them they managed to tell them the story at the airport. Nancy saw Ned's nostrils flare as he tried to control his anger when they got to the part where she was drugged. She slipped her hand over his under the table. He flipped his palm up and intertwined their fingers, squeezing tightly, worriedly. She ran her thumb over the back of his hand comfortingly and gave him a small smile.

"So you're going down to the precinct to hear the questioning?" Dave asked.

"Yeah, wouldn't miss it for the world," Nancy said with a nod.

"Awesome. Fieldtrip," Burt said, grinning.

"You're coming?"

"You think we drove three hours for lunch?" Ned asked.

"You drove all the way down here to listen to a dipshit confess?" Bess asked, raising a brow.

"Well… that and other things," Dave said with a smile. Bess blushed.

"Can I come in now?" Hannah called from the hallway.

"Yes!" Nancy replied excitedly, hugging the woman tightly. "I missed you, Hannah."

"I'm just glad you're back. I was so worried," she said. "Now, I'm hungry, you're father's hungry, the boys are hungry and I'm willing to bet that you guys are hungry."

"Nope," Bess said, shaking her head.

"What?" everyone said, looking at her.

She grinned. "I'm _starving_."

They laughed and Hannah made sandwiches and a salad and she did have a banana cream pie ready for them. As they were finishing up lunch, laughing and joking, the phone rang and Nancy grabbed it.

"Hello?"

"Hey, kid, it's me," McGinnis said on the other line. "He just came in. Want me to wait for you?"

Nancy nodded. "Yeah. I'll be there in five. Thanks." She hung up and scarfed the rest of her sandwich. "He's there. Whoever's coming with, let's go."

The six friends piled into two cars and headed to the police station. The guard at the desk smiled kindly at Nancy and waved them through. They were led to a one-sided window where Nixon was sitting alone, hands drumming on the table, bored. Nancy turned to McGinnis as he walked up.

"I thought you were going to start questioning him," Nancy said.

"Thing is, when they grabbed the girlfriend, she started squealing like a pig. Crying and all. She basically gave us the whole story and we have a pretty good case, even without Ira's testimony. But it'd be definite if he testified."

"So why is he in the questioning cell?" George asked.

"Last minute details, get him to sign a written confession. Said he would under one condition."

"What's that?" Burt asked.

"He wants to see you," McGinnis said, tilting his chin at Nancy.

Nancy looked through the glass at the man sitting in the little room, looking bored.

"You wanted a testimony from Ira, right?" Nancy said.

"It'd be nice," McGinnis said.

Nancy looked up at the police chief. "Go get him. I'll get it for you."


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Ira Nixon arrived with a uniform about ten minutes later. He was scared and confused and Nancy's blood boiled when she caught sight of his face. His eye was still swollen and bruised and he had a cut on his lip. He caught sight of Nancy and came to stand behind her.

"What's going on here, Nancy?" he asked, looking around.

He caught sight of his brother then and stepped slowly towards the window. He stared for a few seconds and then glanced back at Nancy and all her friends.

"What's happening? Why is Edgar in that room?" Ira asked in a voice that explained he didn't understand.

"Edgar is in trouble Ira," Nancy said as if she was talking to a child. "He's done some bad things."

"This has to be a mistake…"

"It's not, Ira. Are you sure you don't want to testify? Are you sure you don't want to report Edgar to the police? Look what he's done to you. Look what he's _been_ doing to you," Nancy said softly.

"It's for your own good," Bess added gently with a nod.

Ira looked them all over, then at his brother in the holding cell. When he looked at them again he had a face of steel family pride.

"There's nothing to report," Ira said in a firm voice.

Nancy nodded as if she knew he would say that. She put a hand on his shoulder. "I just want you to listen, Ira. Just listen and then make up your mind." She looked up at McGinnis and nodded. "I'm going in."

"The only way you're going in is if I go in with you," Ned said, stepping forward and holding her arm protectively.

"You don't have to-"

"This isn't for you," Ned said with a small, teasing smile. "Your father would kill me if I didn't."

McGinnis opened the door and the couple went inside. Nixon looked up from his chair and watched as Nancy sunk into the chair before him. Ned stood in the back corner, leaning against the wall, arms folded over his chest. Nixon's eyes flicked up to Ned for a second, then he sneered at Nancy.

"What's with the bruiser? You don't trust me?" he said with a filthy smirk.

"What do you want, Nixon?" she asked, playing his game.

Nixon hesitated, then leaned back in his chair. "You tell me. You've been a pain in my ass these last few days trying so hard to find me, well… here I am. I just wanted to know what the hell it is you wanted so badly."

"I wanted to keep you from ruining that poor woman's life."

"Pointless money going to a pointless person. You're telling me that you wouldn't want it?"

"Not if it wasn't mine."

"Bullshit," Nixon accused quickly. "Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit."

"Why were you willing to marry her if you had a girlfriend?" Nancy asked.

"Hey, all I needed was a marriage certificate that said I had married Nancy Smith Drew. Didn't mean I had to keep her around. So what if I swapped wives?"

"How'd you even find her?"

"The paper had an article about some dumb ass Emerson kid's famous toe and there was a side article about her going in as an acting coach. Soon as I called Bates-Jones and told him I'd put him in contact with 'Ms. Drew,' soon to be 'Mrs. Nixon,' I went right up there to find her. She seemed pretty eager. Desperate. Easy. At least, it wasn't too hard."

"What about the match-making scam. How long did you commit mail fraud with that thing?"

"Who knows who cares? Any girl idiot enough to send a thousand dollars cash through the mail for 'true love' deserves to be robbed. Those people were pathetic. Everyone of them sending me these dumb ass, desperate letters about their empty, meaningless lives. Besides, it's not like a was selfish about it. Had a two friends in it. It's how I got with my girl."

Nancy looked at him, not even trying to hide the disgust and disdain from her face. "Why you steal the mail from your brother at my house?"

A sneer crossed Nixon's face. "Tell you Dearest Daddy that his client Quigley has one big mouth. That old bitch wrote me letters five pages long telling me all sorts of business. I knew exactly when she was sending that money and when it was getting to your house. Hell, she even put some of your address in there. If she knew what time your old man washed his balls, that would've been in there too.

"So I followed the old bastard around all day, waiting until I could take the letter. And then you drove up in that shiny car of yours with your charm and your…" Nixon's eyes flicked down to Nancy's chest and Ned practically growled from the corner. He grinned sickeningly, "…oozing charm. You're kind of an idiot to leave your door opened. Easiest thing in the world to slip in, grab the stack and get back out. I found the Smith Drew letter by mistake. My girlfriend actually opened it and read it. She's always found mail fascinating. Guess I can't complain anymore since something good came of it. Well, almost came of it. Hell, I figured I needed it more than she did. More than you did too."

"What about the money you took from Ira's house? You still have the three grand?" Nancy asked.

Nixon's lip pulled back in a snarl. "Tell those God damn pigs it's in my wallet. Give it back to the cheap bastard. He knows as well as I do that money he'd hoarding is mine. I've got a right to it."

"It was his father's."

"I don't give a shit! It should be mine!" Nixon yelled, standing. Nancy just stood, facing him coolly and this made him all the angrier. "Get out of here, I don't want to look at you anymore."

"How could you beat your own brother?" Nancy said in a soft, small voice as if she pitied him.

Edgar moved to lunge at her, rage written over his features. Ned loomed out of the corner and stood between them, a rock hard expression of "don't mess with me" written on his face. Edgar back down, realizing he didn't want to take on Ned, especially with the police force outside the door waiting to back him up. He finally slackened, resuming his cool, unaffected charade.

"You should keep your girlfriend under control," Nixon said to Ned with a deviant little smirk.

"At least I don't have to hit my girlfriend to make myself feel like more of a man," Ned said in an iron tone.

Edgar snarled at him again, but Ned was in a deadlock and Nixon flicked his eyes away.

"Leave me alone," he said, walking to the other end of the room and leaning his head against the wall.

Nancy and Ned came out and were faced with their friends. McGinnis gave a faint nod and an officer moved into the room with a stack papers in his hands. Ira was looking down at the floor, his eyes pooling with tears. Nancy put a hand on his shoulder.

"I know he's your brother," Nancy whispered to him. "But look at all the people he's hurt. Think of all the people he's going to hurt. Please, Ira, in a lot of ways, it's for his own good."

A tear rolled down the old man's cheek, but when he raised his head, there was a look of resolute determination on his face. He turned to McGinnis.

"Chief, I want to make a statement," he said in a voice that was low and tear-stained.

"Absolutely, Ira. We'll take good care of you. Mack, take Ira to my office, I'll be right there," McGinnis instructed. When the old man was out of sight, the police chief smiled at Nancy. "You done good, kid. Keep it up and I might just hire you."

Nancy laughed and said her goodbyes. The three couples walked out of the police station and lingered at the cars.

"God damn, Nancy," George said with a smile. "I don't know anyone with better luck than you. It's like all the clues and criminals flock to you."

"I don't know anyone with _worse_ luck," Bess corrected under her breath.

"Well, another exciting chapter of Nancy Drew's life has been ended," Burt said with a wide, teasing grin.

"Yeah, what's next, Nance?" Dave taunted. "Going to find the missing heir to the throne of Bangladesh?"

"I'm not even sure if they have a monarchy," George said. "But let's say they did and they had a missing heir, if anyone could find him, it'd be Nancy."

"Nancy Drew," Ned said, running a hand through her hair and down her back with a tender, meaningful smile. "Greatest amateur detective of our time."

Nancy felt a warm shiver run up her spine and plaster itself as a smile on her lips.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: It's done! Finally and after so long, I finished the second one! Trumpets! Trombones! What the hell, even a tuba!!! Oh my God, I hope you guys really enjoyed it. Please shot me a review and let me know what you guys think. Thank you, thank you, thank you to all who review, you guys are great. I'm starting the next one soon. I hope to keep this going! Let me know about that one when you see it! THANKS!


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